BLACKSTONE 

"On  the  Bum  in  a  High-powered 
Ford." 


HV 

6534 

S3A6 

1916 

v.l 


£  'A  ' 


"On  the  Bum  inaHigh- 
Powered  Ford" 

By  "Frank"  and  "Bob"  Blackstone 


An  Effort  to  Pass  on  to  Others  the  Few  Things  Told 
"Frank"'  and  "Bob"  During  Their  Four  Years  "On 
the  Bum  in  a  High-Powered  Ford,"  Driving  30,000 
Miles  in  the  United  States  and  Canada,  Camping, 
Peddling  Literature  and  Agitating  the  "Mooney 
Frame-Up." 


PRICE,  FIFTY  CENTS 


Press  of 

Kansas    Trades    Unionist 
Topeka,  Kansas 


Dedication 


TO  THE  FATHERS  OF  THOSE  TWO  UN- 
AMERICAN  BASTARD  CHILDREN,  THE 
KANSAS  COURT  OF  INDUSTRIAL  RE- 
LATIONS AND  THE  KANSAS  CENSOR 
BOARD  OF  MOTION  PICTURE  REVIEW, 
THE  AUTHORS  DEDICATE  "ON  THE 
BUM  IN  A  HIGH-POWERED  FORD"— 
FOR  REJECTION  OF  "THE  CONTRAST" 
BY  "THE  BOARD"  TO  PROTECT  "THE 
COURT"  FORCED  "FRANK"  AND  "BOB" 
INTO  ANOTHER  DEFENSE  OF  LIB- 
ERTY, WHICH  FREEDOM  -  LOVING 
TRADE  UNIONISTS  FINANCED  BY  OR- 
DERING THEIR  COPIES  IN  ADVANCE 


Copyright  1922 
By  Frances  Mumford  Blackstone 

and  Robert  Edward  Blackstone 
Box  16,  Newman,  Kansas,  U.  S.  A. 


"On  the  Bum  in  a  High-Powered  Ford\ 

"A  HELL-OV-A-FIX" 

The  agitated  mud-bespattered  driver-agitator,  "draped" 
himself  over  the  hood  of  the  motor  with  a  despairing  groan : 

"My  God !  We  are  done.  No  meeting  to-night !  And  to  think 
of  all  those  damnable  grades,  rotten  roads,  beastly  mud-hole* 
we've  wallowed  thru  and  then  forced  to  give  up  a  few  miles 
from  town,  (Park  City,  Utah)  where  a  hall  full  of  copper 
miners  are  waiting  to  hear  about  the  MOONEY  FRAME  UP. 
This, — this  sure  is  hell!" 

"Bob,  please  tell  me  what  has  happened?  What  was  that 
awful  knocking  before  you  stopped  the  motor?" 

"Don't  know  for  sure;  either  a  connecting-rod  has  let  go  or 
a  bearing  burned  out — " 

"Can't  we  go  on?"  demanded  Frank. 

"Impossible!  It  would  ruin  the  motor — it  may  be  ruined 
now,"  asserted  Bob.  "If  it  is  we're  in  a  hell-ov-a-fix — " 

"There's  a  light !  Maybe  the  farmer  will  tow  us?"  suggested 
Frank.  "We  can't  stay  here  in  the  middle  of  the  road!" 

"Will  I  tow  a  Mooney  Agitator's  gas  buggy?  You  bet  I 
will — and  it  won't  cost  you  a  cent.  Furthermore,  there'll  be 
no  camping  out  tonight.  I'll  do  anything  for  Unionism  and 
Tom  Mooney.  I  read  the  Irish  World"  said  Martin  Gonigan, 
"retired"  metal  miner  from  Butte,  Montana,  who  carried  his 
union  card — in  his  heart. 

A  lantern,  a  horse  and  willing  service  for  love  of  a  cause 
not  love  of  gold — soon  had  the  car  (including  Rego,  a  100 
cent  hound  dog)  at  the  farm-house,  where  on  entering,  a 
supper  was  waiting,  prepared  by  Mrs.  Gonigan,  for  her  unex- 
pected Sunday  "visitors." 

Examination  next  morning  showed  number  two  conne6ting- 
rod  bearing  had  burned  out.  A  "high  center"  had  knocked  off 
the  oil  gauge — the  marvel  was  that  only  one  bearing  had  "run." 

A  three-mile  tow  thru  deep  mud.  the  towing  car/ radiator 

3 


boiling  continuously,  the  driver,  still  a  mile  from  town,  re- 
fused to  go  further.  A  passing  garbage  wagon  finished  the 
job,  landing  the  car  at  Fitch's  Garage. 

The  Mooney  meeting  had  been  postponed  until  Thursday 
by  Mr.  Ogden,  who  was  keenly  disappointed  at  Bob's  non- 
arrival.  As  manager  of  Neale's  Bakery,  he  took  the  time  to 
interest  many  people  and  began  with  renewed  vigor,  to  make 
the  postponed  meeting  a  success. 

Thirty  people  attended  the  meeting.  Mooney  had  just  been 
sentenced  to  death — February,  1917.  A  more  unpopular  cause 
never  existed,  owing  to  the  lies  anti-union  forces  had  circu- 
lated : 

"Mooney  is  an  anarchist!  Pro-German!  a  Dynamiter!" 
"String  him  up,"  howled  the  press  and  in  the  same  issue  de- 
manded (of  the  workers)  strict  obedience  to  law  and  order. 

A  small  collection  was  secured  for  the  Defense, and  five  ten- 
cent  books,  about  the  Frame-up, .sold.  How  fifty  cents  in  book 
sales  would  pay  auto  repairs  and  a  four-days'  board  bill,  was 
a  question. 

Frank  designing  and  making  some  pretty  dresses  for  the 
Neals  squared  the  board  bill,  while  Bob  assisted  the  auto 
mechanic  on  repairs. 

"THE  MORMON  VILLAGE" 

From  Park  City,  thru  a  sea  of  mud,  the  Mooney  car  arrived 
at  Salt  Lake — the  "Mormon  Village,"  founded  in  1848  by 
Brigham  Young — where,  despite  opposition,  a  Mooney  meet- 
ing was  held — 200  people  attending.  The  committee,  unable 
to  get  a  hall  in  the  Labor  Temple,  or  chairs,  were  forced  to  rent 
them,  after  they  had  secured  the  Unitarian  church  nearby.  Col- 
lection and  literature  sales  were  so  meager,  that  radicals  and 
liberal  unionists  had  to  pay  a  deficit. 

"THE  MARTYRED  JOSEPHS" 

The  Mooney  Agitators,  on  a  side-trip  out  of  Salt  Lake, 

made  the  acquaintance  of  Mr. ,  a  radical  fotografer,  who, 

disgusted  with  the  war-stand  of  "his  church"  leaders,  explained 
to  Bob : 

4 


"The  Book  of  Mormon,  page  87.  large  edition,  says:  'And 
again  the  Lord  God  commanded  that  men  should  not  murder.' 

"Then  again  in  Doctrine  and  Covenants,  section  42,  para- 
graph 6.  we  read :  'Thou  shalt  not  kill ;  and  he  that  kills  shall 
not  have  forgiveness  in  this  world  nor  in  the  world  to  come.' 
This  is  a  revelation  thru  Joseph  Smith — " 

"Who  is  Joseph  Smith?"  asked  Bob. 

"He's  our  martyred  prophet,  to  whom  the  angel  Moroni 
appeared  three  times  on  the  night  of  September  21,  1823  at 
Manchester.  New  York,  and  told  him  about  the  Bible  of  the 
western  world,  a  supplement  to  the  New  Testament,  buried 
nearby,  in  Cummorah  Hill. 

"Four  years  later,  our  prophet  dug  up  a  stone  box  contain- 
ing a  book  of  gold  leaves,  7x8  inches,  fastened  together  by 
three  gold  rings.  The  Lord  had  provided  a  pair  of  supernat- 
ural spectacles  of  two  crystals,  named  Urim  and  Thummin,  set 
in  a  silver  bow.  With  the  aid  of  these,  the  mysterious  iCarac- 
tors'1  could  be  read. 

"After  a  translation  by  our  prophet,  dictated  from  behind 
a  curtain,  the  plates  were  removed  by  the  angel  Moroni " 

"Was  Smith's  martrydom  as  mystical  as " 

"I  should  say  not!"  snapped  the  fotografer,  peeved  at 
Bob's  skepticism. 

"Our  prophet,  Joseph  Smith,  was  the  first  candidate  for 
president  of  the  United  States,  on  an  abolition  platform  ? 

"He  and  his  brother  Hirum  were  murdered  at  Carthage, 
Illinois,  June  27,  1844,  by  a  mob  that  stormed  the  jail  and  shot 
them  dead. 

"The  alleged  reason  for  the  mob's  action  was,  'they 
were  advocating  polygamy,'  but,"  continued  the  fotografer. 
"George  Q.  Cannon  asserts,  Journal  of  Discourses,  volume  14, 
page  166,  'hundreds  of  persons  were  persecuted  to  death, 
previous  to  the  church  having  any  knowledge  of  this  doctrine.' 

"To  me  it  is  self-evident,  the  recognition  and  treatment  of 
Negroes  and  Mulattoes  as  human  beings,  caused  the  persecu- 
tion against  the  Mormons  and  the  fact  that  some  rich  converts 
issued  'Expositor.'  a  newspaper,  advocating  'disobedience  to 
political  revelations,'  is  proof  positive  that  this  abolition  stand, 
•was  the  real  cause  of  their  persecution,  for  in  an  interview, 

5 


Alta  Californian,  1869,  Brigham  Young  said  to  United  States 
Senator  Trumbell  'As  to  our  institutions,  we  know  we  are 
right  and  polygamy,  which  you  object  to,  was  not  originally 
a  part  of  our  system,  but  adopted  by  us  as  a  necessity  after  we 
came  here.' 

"And  it  was  a  necessity"  insisted  the  fotografer,  "for  vio- 
lent death  by  rattlesnakes  and  Indians  confronted  these  pio- 
neers on  every  hand.  Some  day  a  more  generous  people  will  con- 
cede the  wisdom  of  Brigham  Young's  policy  to  increase  popu- 
lation, even  tho  the  Reorganized  Church,  1860  (anti-polyga- 
mous) ,  denounces  him  as  a  usurper. 

"The  church  and  the  United  States  owes  much  to  Brigham 
Young — he  was  an  able  leader;  'for  daring,  a  Cromwell;  for 
intrigue,  a  Machiavelli;  for  executive  force,  a  Moses;  and  for 
absence  of  conscience,  a  Bonaparte.' 

"Brigham  Young,  1846,  after  an  exploration  trip,  decided 
this  country  (Utah),  tho  under  the  Spanish  flag  at  the  time, 
was  the  promised  land.  Yet  Daniel  Webster  stigmatized  it  'a 
vast  worthless  area,'  during  Senate  debate,  1840,  to  establish 
a  pony  express  from  Missouri  to  the  Pacific. 

"He  organized  the  march,  from  what  is  now  Florence,  Ne- 
braska, in  a  very  practical  way,  grinding  flour  in  a  mill  he 
built  himself,  from  grain  sowed  by  an  advance  guard. 

"The  first  attempt  at  systematic  irrigation  in  the  United 
States,  was  developed  here  and  the  resulting  development  and 
indusrial  growth,  is  in  keeping  with  the  founder's  vision. 

"The  gold-seekers,  stampeding  to  California,  found  Salt 
Lake  an  oasis  and  their  demands  for  food  and  outfits,  soon 
converted  the  co-operative  spirit  of  our  people,  into  a  com- 
petitive one. 

"Production  for  profit,  took  the  place  of  production  for 
use;  this  produced  jealousies,  antagonisms  and  intolerance. 
Plot  and  counter  plot,  massacre  and  revenge  fanned  the  old 
flames  of  hate  against  the  Mormons,  who  as  our  Pilgrim  fore- 
fathers had  done,  separated  themselves  from  those  who  would 
not  allow  them  to  worship  as  they  chose,  charged  and  were 
charged  with  all  manner  of  crimes. 

"And,"  reasoned  the  fotografer,  "the  Pony  Express,  tele- 

6 


graf  and  railroad  had  to  go  thru  Salt  Lake — it  would  not  have 
been  profitable  to  go  any  other  way. 

"So  the  Civilizer,  instead  of  being  the  sword  of  the  Cru- 
sader and  the  fagot  of  the  fanatic,  was  the  profit,  not  alone 
from  Gentile  but  also  fellow  Mormon. 

"Apologists  for  the  profit-takers  are  constantly  charging 
some  organization  with  all  the  crimes  on  the  calendar,  and 
while  the  dear  people  are  mobbing  alleged  offenders,  these 
profiteers  are  gobbling  more,"  contended  the  fotografer. 

"Take  the  case  of  Joe  Hill,  the  I.  W.  W.  organizer.  No 
Gentile  profit-grabber  declared  his  trial  and  execution,  Nov. 
18,  1915,  was  a  Mormon  church  plot.  But  many  firmly  believe 
that  Hill  was  relentlessly  prosecuted  and  persecuted  by  Mor- 
mon capitalists  of  the  Utah  Construction  Company,  who  had 
to  clean  up  their  filthy,  lousy  bunkhouses,  hire  capable  cooks 
and  pay  better  wages,  after  he  organized  their  'hands'  and 
called  a  strike  at  Tucker  (Utah)  in  summer  of  1913. 

"Later,  company  gunmen  attempted  to  frame  some  of  the 
strike  leaders — Sam  Scarlet  on  burglary,  and  Ed  Rowan  on 
a  dynamite  charge.  Gunmen  attacked  an  I.  W.  W.  street  meet- 
ing in  Salt  Lake,  where  three  of  them  were  shot,  but  they 
failed  to  kill  any  'Wobblies.' 

"In  January,  1914,  during  the  crime  wave,  resulting  from 
hard  times,  Morrison,  formerly  a  policeman,  and  his  eldest 
son  were  killed  in  their  grocery  by  two  masked  men.  The 
shooting  was  witnessed  by  another  son  14  years  old,  who  de- 
scribed the  murderers  as  'short  and  stocky.  .  .' 

"On  testimony  of  Cramm — a  stool  pigeon,  who  never  testi- 
fied at  the  trial,  having  disappeared — Joe  Hill,  who  weighed 
135  pounds  and  who  was  six  feet  tall — certainly  not  'short  and 
stocky' — was  arrested  and  accused  of  the  crime. 

"  'Morrison  had  a  deadly  enemy  and  that  enemy  was  not 
Joe  Hill,'  asserted  a  reporter  of  the  Salt  Lake  Tribune,  but 
when  it  came  time  for  this  reporter  to  testify,  he  also  had 
disappeared ! 

"Woodrow  Wilson  and  Sam  Gompers,  who  declared  Hill 
did  not  have  a  fair  trial,  were  lucky  to  be  far  away  from  Salt 
Lake,  for  when  Roy  Horton,  a  Socialist,  denounced  the  gunmen 


of  the  Mormon  capitalists,  he  was  murdered  in  cold  blood  on 
Main  street  and  his  assassin  never  was  jailed.     .     .     . 

"Hill  died,  protesting  his  innocence  and  denial  of  a  new 
trial   (a  rank  injustice)    did  not  soil  his  spirit.     The  night 


JOSEPH  SMITH 

(Courtesy   Reorganized   Church 
of  Latter  Day   Saints.) 


before  he  was  taken  out  and  shot  he  expressed  his  idealism, 
devoid  of  bitterness  and  hate,  in  a  poetical  'Last  Will:' 

My  will  is  easy  to  decide, 
For  there  is  nothing  to  divide, 
My  kin  don't  need  to  fuss  and  moan- 


"Moss  does  not  cling  to  a  rolling  stone." 

My  body?  Ah,  If  I  could  choose, 
I  would  to  ashes  it  reduce, 
And  let  the  merry  breezes  blow 
My  dust  to  where  some  flowers  grow. 
8 


Perhaps  some  fading  flower  then 
Would  come  to  life  and  bloom  again. 
This  is  my  last  and  final  will. 
Good  luck  to  all  of  you,  Joe  Hill. 

"And  his  final  admonition,  'Don't  waste  time  moaning — 
organize!'  should  become  the  worker's  slogan,  for" — 

The  door  opened,  admitting  a  group  in  their  Sunday  best. 
"Come  again,"  said  the  radical  fotografer,  shaking  hands  with 
Bob. 

MISSING  30,000,000  GALLONS  OF  WATER 

Leaving  Salt  Lake,  Frank  and  Bob  had  $2.75  in  the  "family 
purse,'.'  eats  in  the  grub-box  on  the  running  board,  whose  door, 
when  let  down,  served  as  a  table,  and  the  highest  ambition 
possible — to  help  prevent  the  hanging  of  Mooney  and  his  co- 
defendants. 

After  a  blowout,  frequent  cleaning  of  plugs,  caused  by 
burning  distilate,  instead  of  gasoline,  the  brakes  were  applied 
in  front  of  a  shack  labeled  Hotel,  Thistle  Junction,  Utah, 
where  a  few  men  in  mechanics'  clothes  were  having  their  after- 
supper  smoke. 

Bob  demanded:  "Are  there  any  union  men  in  this  Burg?" 

"Yu  betcha!"  was  the  chorused  reply. 

One.  a  machinist  named  Smith,  invited  Bob  to  give  a  noon- 
hour  talk  next  day.  This  stop  probably  saved  the  lives  of 
Frank  and  Bob,  for  forty  miles  beyond  a  30,000,000-gallon 
reservoir  broke  and  the  water  rushed  mountain-high  down  the 
Price  River  Canyon,  destroying  autos,  bridges,  fourteen  miles 
of  Rio  Grande  double-track  and  other  property.  This  ne- 
cessitated a  detour,  thru  Salina  Canyon  of  265  miles,  using  an 
abandoned  railroad  grade,  where  steel  rails  and  spikes,  buried 
in  the  dust,  caused  much  tire  trouble.  Another  menace,  was 
rock  and  dirt  slides,  one  of  which  carried  the  car  to  the  brink 
of  a  high  embankment,  where  a  boulder  prevented  it  from  top- 
pling over.  Danger  that  traction  effort  might  dislodge  the 
boulder,  determined  Bob  to  cautiously  engage  the  clutch  and 
when  the  car  moved  slowly  forward,  he  stepped  on  the  gas 

9 


and  regained  the  road,  as  the  boulder  fell  into  the  river,  making 
it  impossible  for  another  car  to  pass. 

The  scorching  sun  forced  a  three-hour  stop,  near  the  head 
of  the  canyon,  where  Frank  washed  and  Bob  caught  a  trout 
for  lunch. 

"SAUSAGES" 

At  Helper,  Utah,  Jacob  Geese,  a  union  cigarmaker,  and 
poet  of  things-as-they-ought-to-be,  introduced  Bob  to  Secre- 
tary Reddington,  who  called  a  meeting  of  the  shop  crafts. 

A  few  live  ones  attended  the  meeting.  Bob  broke  the  ice, 
in  his  pioneer  talk,  selling  fourteen  Mooney  books  at  ten  cents 
each.  Gas  and  oil  costs,  from  Thistle  Junction  to  Helper  had 
been  $7.50.  Part  of  this  money  Frank  secured,  by  selling  her 
electric  iron  and  toaster  and  Bob  by  repairing  a  hose  connection 
and  fan-belt. 

Money  earned  by  Frank,  sewing  for  Mrs.  Geese  and  fotos 
made  by  Bob  at  a  Fourth  of  July  picnic,  paid  for  gas,  oil  and 
eats  to  the  next  town. 

Prairie  dogs — wits  call  'em  "sausages"  for  "ain't  ground 
hog  sausage?" — were  the  only  living  things  seen  by  Frank  and 
Bob  during  a  day's  travel  over  parched  and  sun-baked  sand- 
flats,  to  Greenriver,  Utah,  where  Mr.  Gould  paid  for  a  hall 
and  introduced  Bob  to  his  brother  shopmen.  However,  not 
one  of  them  had  the  courage  to  attend  the  lecture.  An  audience 
of  three  live  ones — the  Goulds  and  Mrs.  Jamison  (wife  of  Mr. 
Jamison,  who  helped  with  the  Salt  Lake  meeting),  heard  the 
Frame-up  talk.  But  as  the  Utah  Light  and  local  authorities 
were  in  a  fight,  the  company  cut  the  juice  and  killed  showing 
of  the  Mooney  pictures.  The  sting  of  this  failure  was  partly 
removed  by  Mrs.  Jamison's  cake  and  the  Goulds'  garden  truck 
and  seven  gallons  of  kerosene,  which  Bob  mixed  with  an  equal 
amount  of  gas  in  the  tank.  Gould  palmed  the  Mooney  agitator 
a  dollar  as  he  shook  hands. 

QUICKSAND  AND  DEAD-HEADS 

"Next  gas  on  the  other  side  of  the  desert — 80  miles.    Next 

10 


drinkable  water,  40  miles;  and  look  out  for  quicksand  in  the 
washouts."  This  intimidating  information  the  "gas  boy" 
handed  out  in  Cisco,  on  the  western  edge  of  the  Cisco  Desert. 

Another  warning  from  Dr.  Smith,  of  Chicago,  as  he  bor- 
rowed Bob's  pump,  was :  "When  you  come  to  a  washout,  where 
an  old  casing  hangs  to  a  post  on  the  opposite  bank,  beware  of 
quicksand !  There  I  found  a  Knickerbocker,  in  a  Metz,  stuck 
to  the  axles — couldn't  budge  it  with  my  70  h.  p.  motor.  His 
hysterical  wife  kept  sobbing,  'I  knew,  before  we  left  New  York, 
we'd  get  stuck,  or  the  red  Indians  would  scalp  us.'  r 

Under  a  melting  desert  sun,  on  the  sizzling  sand,  Frank  and 
Bob  were  forced  to  repair  many  blowouts.  They  also  learned, 
mixing  kerosene  and  gasoline  was  bad.  This  slow-burning  mix- 
ture fouled  the  plugs,  overheated  and  stalled  the  motor  in  the 
deep  sand,  worrying  Bob  frantic,  each  time  he  recalled  Dr. 
Smith's  warning. 

"There's  the  old  casing!"  exclaimed  Frank,  as  the  car, 
rounding  a  curve,  stopped  on  the  bank  of  the  widest  wash  yet 
encountered  and  the  first  with  an  oozy  covering,  called — for 
brevity — "water." 

"Make  some  sandwiches,"  commanded  Bob.  "Hate  to  put  on 
chains,  but  it's  safer." 

Chains  on,  lunch  finished,  Bob  grabbed  a  large  branch  from 
the  driftwood  and  racing  over  the  wash,  picked  a  driveway, 
around  the  quicksand. 

Mack,  Colorado,  on  the  eastern  edge  of  the  Cisco  Desert, 
was  reached  twenty-four  hours  after  leaving  Cisco.  Buying 
two  gallons  of  gas  here,  left  30  cents  in  the  family  purse. 

Entering  Fruita,  Bob  called  to  a  man  on  a  hay-rack :  "Could 
you  tell  me  where  Chopper  lives?" 

"He's  dead,"  was  the  mournful  reply.  Noting  the  Mooney 
penant,  he  hastened  over  and  shook  hands,  saying: 

"This  is  the  carcass  of  Chopper.  His  head  is  dead,  tho  his 
legs  live  on.  We're  all  dead-heads  here.  You  better  drive  on 
and  save  time." 

SHE  HERDED  SHEEP 

Green  fields,  shady  roads  and  the  balmy  summer  air,  put 

11 


Frank  and  Bob  in  such  excellent  spirits  they  invited  an  "old 
man."  hiking,  to  ride,  which  was  gladly  accepted.  The  face 
and  voice  tho,  betrayed  the  woman  in  disguise.  The  only  avail- 
able information  was,  "she's  herded  sheep  forty  years  in  this 
section  and  always  wears  overalls  and  a  linen  duster." 

At  noon  the  Mooney  car  stopped  before  "The  Critic,"  Grand 
Junction,  whose  editor,  L.  Ross  Conkling  greeted  Frank  and 
Bob  with,  "We  feared  you  had  been  pinched — the  Mooney  case 
is  still  unpopular.  Don't  stop  the  motor;  drive  me  home  and 
we'll  have  something  to  eat — mother  just  'phoned." 

Excessive  work,  editing  "The  Critic,"  setting  up,  printing 
and  mailing  had  made  Conklin,  "a  tall  man."  The  sunken  eyes, 
the  prominent  cheek  bones,  the  high-bulging  forehead,  the 
small  ears  and  penciled  eyebrows,  proclaimed  the  idealist,  the 
thinker,  the  fighter  for  Industrial  Democracy — such  was  Conk- 
lin. the  publisher  of  truths,  whose  print-shop  was  wrecked  with 
sledge-hammers,  by  super-patriots,  surcharged  with  bootleg 
booze  and  Chamber  of  Commerce  coin. 

EVOLUTION 

A  farmer,  George  Kunkle,  was  introduced  to  Frank  and 
Bob.  as  the  Socialist  agitator,  who  replied  to  Goldstein. 

"I've  been  hoping  to  meet  someone  who  could  explain  So- 
cialism, but  I  want  it  short,"  insisted  Frank. 

"You'll  get  it,"  Kunkle  announced.  "The  theory  of  living 
beings  evolving  from  a  few  low  types,  was  violently  assailed, 
as  dangerous  to  Christian  civilization.  Logic  and  reason  put 
Darwin's  Doctrine  of  Descent  into  every  prominent  university. 
Evolution  upset  the  legend  of  Adam  and  Eve,  classifying  it 
—Hebrew  Fables.  Goldstein  accepts  the  account  in  Gensis,  yet 
international  writers  and  dignitaries  of  his  church  admit  the 
Theory  of  Evolution.  Rev.  Father  Eric  Wassaman,  of  Luxem- 
burg, a  learned  zoologist,  in  his  book,  Modern  Biology  and 
the  Tlieory  of  Evolution,  page  307,  says,  'Evolution  to  which  I 
subscribe,  as  a  scientist,  rests  on  the  foundation  of  the  Chris- 
tian doctrine.' 

"And,"  continued  Kunkle,  "Rev.  Father  Martin  Gander 

1-2 


says,  in  his  book,  The  Theory  of  Descent:  'Thus  the  modern 
forms  of  matter  were  not  immediately  created  by  God ;  they  are 
effects  of  the  formative  forces,  which  were  put  by  the  Creator, 
in  the  primitive  matter  and  gradually  came  into  view  in  the 
course  of  the  earth's  history,  when  the  external  conditions  were 
given  in  the  proper  combination.' 

"In  The  Catholic  World,  an  international  magazine,  Sir 
Bertram  C.  A.  Wendall,  L.  L.  D.,  discussing  our  simian  an- 
cestors, says:  'In  this  there  is  nothing  to  disturb  the  mind  of 
any  Catholic.'  He  then  quotes  the  Catholic  Encyclopedia :  'We 
cannot  confine  the  years  of  man's  sojourn  on  earth  to  that 
usually  set  down;'  and  he  closes,  quoting  Abbe  Breuil,  that 
'man  could  not  have  existed  for  less  than  20,000  years;  and 
Prof.  Keith,  an  eminent  Catholic,  who  'demands  350,000  years.' 

"This,"  declared  Kunkle,"  is  not  liberalism,  but  capitula- 
tion to  modern  science.  Scientists,  unable  to  explain,  believed 
long  ago  in  the  evolution  of  living  beings  and  social  institu- 
tions ;  but  it  took  Darwin  to  put  evolution  on  -a  scientific  basis. 

"Morgan's  Ancient  Society,  traces  in  detail  the  growth  of 
the  intellect,  out  of  a  pre-historic  past,  by  means  of  inventions 
and  discoveries,  and  shows  the  development  of  the  family,  of 
government,  and  of  property.  His  theory  bridges  the  gap  be- 
tween civilization  and  the  brute,  supplimenting  the  Darwin 
Theory  of  Evolution.  Furthermore  Engel's. 

'ORIGIN  OF  THE  FAMILY' 

shows  that  the  way  people  got  a  living  determined  their  laws, 
their  morality,  their  religion  and  their  education.  As  their 
way  of  getting  a  living  changed,  so  did  their  laws,  their  mor- 
ality, their  religion  and  their  education  change.  Getting  a 
living  is  different  than  it  was  hundreds  of  years  ago.  Mail 
was  carried  thru  this  country,  a  few  years  ago,  by  pony  ex- 
press; mail  will  be  carried  orer  this  country,  a  few  years 
hence,  by  airplane.  Our  tools,  tractors  and  threshers,  have  de- 
veloped different  conditions,  different  laws,  different  ideas  of 
morality,  of  religion  and  of  education  than  those  of  our  an- 
cestors, who  plowed  with  the  fork  of  a  tree  and  threshed  with 
a  flail.  This  is 

13 


'SOCIAL  EVOLUTION' 

"The  Materialistic  Conception  of  History  which  Goldstein  says 
will  abolish  civilization!  One  might  as  well  assert  Darwin's 
Theory  abolished  human  beings — 

"Interesting,"  interjected  Frank,  "but  what  has  this  to 
do " 

"Factory  production,"  continued  Kunkle,  ignoring  the  in- 
terruption, "began  with  Watts'  condensing  steam  engine,  1769 ; 
Hargreaves'  spinning  jenny,  1767;  and  Arkwright's  spinning 
frame,  1769;  and  then  the  laws,  protecting  the  lords  and  their 
great  estates  and  keeping  their  serfs  in  slavery,  had  to  be 
changed — factory  laws  took  their  place.  As  machinery  de- 
veloped, progressive  managements  gobbled  poorly  managed  in- 
dustries ;  then  trusts,  modern  industrialism,  came,  with  still  an- 
other set  of  law,  to  protect  production  for  profit  and  to  sanc- 
tify private  ownership,  which  evolution  will  abolish. 

Then  public  ownership,  of  the  machinery  of  production, 
will  take  its  place.  Mind  you,  your  tooth-brush  is  personal 
property  and  always  will  bo ;  but  the  tooth-brush  factory  should 
be  publicly  owned  and  will  be.  During  the  present  crisis,  the 
War  Party,  to  succeed,  will  be  forced  to  run  the  railroads,  mu- 
nition plants,  portion  out  food  and  build  ships.  And  Uncle 
Sam,  can  do  it,  too.  Didn't  he  build  the  battleship  Philadel- 
phia, saved  a  million  dollars  and  a  year's  time?  Doesn't  he  run 
the  Postal  System?  Rich  or  poor,  the  price  is  the  same.  No 
one  would  insist  that  the  Postal  System,  should  be  privately 
owned.  And  our  theory  does  not  mean  division,  as  some  dubbs 
think,  who  swallowed  the  pig  fable,  by  'God  knows'  Taft. 
Evolution  is  change,  or  a  social  revolution  for  better  things 
and  no  power  on  earth  can  stop  it. 

"Ignorance  and  falsehood,  prejudice  and  reaction,  are  the 
enemies  of  Socialism — but  they  can  no  more  stop  it  than  a 
prairie  dog  can  stop  the  on-rushing  locomotive 

"Hello,"  interrupted  "Taller-pot"  Murphy,  "the  open-au 
meeting  is  all  arranged.  Committee  borrowed  benches  and 
Expressman  Enis  hauled  them  to  the  lot  gratis.  The  Tinner, 
when  I  convinced  him,  there'd  be  no  bombs  thrown — unless 
some  'Dick'  does  the  throwing — donated  the  juice  for  the  pro- 

14 


jector.  There'll  be  a  big  crowd.  Kunkle  you'll  excuse  me ;  Mrs. 
Murphy  has  supper  ready  and  the  Mooney  agitators  are  going 
to  eat  with  us." 

THE  COP  WOBBLED 

"They're  goin'  to  raid  the  meetin'  sure,"  a  machinist  whis- 
pered, as  Bob  parked  the  car.  "When  the  bulls  pull  you  down, 
tell  the  crowd  to  beat  it  to  Machinists  Hall.  We'll  have  this 
meetin'  in  spite  of  hell!" 

The  mayor,  his  chief  of  police,  several  "harnessed  bulls," 
the  sheriff  and  his  deputies,  plainclothesmen  and  railroad 
"Dicks"  formed  a  semi-circle  behind  the  audience — ready  with 
gun  and  club  and  black  jack. 

"The  police,"  explained  Bob,  "guarding  the  spot  where  the 
San  Francisco  Preparedness  Parade  bomb  exploded,  permitted 
District  Attorney  Fickert  and  his  crew  to  beat  holes  in  the 
wall  and  side-walk.  Fotografs  of  the  false  scene  were  then 
made  and  introduced  as  evidence. 


BEFORE  'J  AFTER 

True  scene    after  bomb  explosion       False  scene  after  bomb  explosion. 

15 


As  Bob  paused  for  Frank  to  hold  the  slide  on  the  screen, 
showing  the  true  and  mutilated  views — conclusive  proof  of 
the  Frame-up — a  'burly  bull'  wobbled  toward  the  speaker. 

A  RUSE THAT  FAILED 

The  cop  paused  near  the  speaker,  hesitated,  sidled  away 
and  reported  to  his  chief. 

Later,  some  one  said,  "The  cop  was  looking  for  a  man  whose 
wife  \vas  dying 

"That's  bull,"  inelegantly  declared  Enis.  "They  thot  the 
speaker  would  kettle — get  frightened  and  beat  it.  In  the 
confusion,  police  would  club  the  crowd  and  the  lying  press 
would  say,  audience  inter/erred  when  police  arrested  Kaiser's 
agent •" 

"How's^book  sales?"  asked  Conklin,  shaking  hands,  palm- 
ing Bob  50  cents. 

"Got  $1.90— now  $2.40,"  was  the  answer,  "with  which  to 
buy  gas,  oil,  eats  and — junk  tires  to  the  next  burg — 

"Paying  expenses  by  literature  sales  in  the  West  is  tough, 
but  once  over  the  Rocky  Mountains,  sales  and  therefore  sailing 
will  be  easier,"  consoled  Kunkle,  as  he  wished  the  Mooney  agi- 
tators "Good  luck— 

"Mr.  Kunkle,"  ventured  Frank,  "one  word  you  used  this 
afternoon,  put  me  wondering  if  Socialists  believe  in  revolu- 
tion— 

"Discontent  leads  to  disobedience  and  disobedience  to  revo- 
lution," answered  Kunkle,  "and  these  must  be  cataloged  among 
a  nation's  virtues.  They  gave  the  United  States  a  constitu- 
tional government;  freed  the  French  people  and  gave  old  Eng- 
land her  Great  Charter. 

•'Robert  G.  Ingersoll,  a  republican  leader,  aptly  said:  "I 
tell  you  there  is  something  splendid  in  a  man  who  will  not 
always  mind.  Why,  if  we  had  done  as  the  kings  told  us  500 
years  ago,  we  would  have  all  been  slaves.  If  we  had  done  as 
the  priests  told  us,  we  would  have  all  been  idiots.  If  we  had 
done  as  the  doctors  told  us,  we  would  have  all  been  dead.  We 
have  been  saved  by  disobedience. 

"Jefferson,"  continued  Kunkle,  "in  a  letter  to  Madison,  'I 
hold  it,  that  a  little  rebellion,  now  and  then,  is  a  good  thing 
and  as  necessary  in  the  political  world,  as  storms  in  the  physi- 
cal. It  is  a  medicine  necessary  for  the  sound  health  of  govern- 
ment.' 

''Why."  declared  Kunkle,  "the  Declaration  of  Independence 
indorses  revolution : 

16 


"  'We  hold  these  truths  to  be  self-evident ;  that  all  men  are 
created  equal;  that  they  are  endowed  by  their  Creator  with 
cuiain  inalienable  rights;  that  among  these  are  life,  liberty 
and  the  pursuit  of  happiness.  That  to  secure  these  rights  gov- 
ernments are  instituted  among  men,  deriving  their  just  powers 
from  the  consent  of  the  governed ;  that  whenever  any  form  of 
government  becomes  destructive  of  these  ends,  it  is  the  right 
of  the  people  to  alter  or  abolish  it,  and  to  institute  a  new  gov- 
ernment, laying  its  foundations  on  such  principles,  and  or- 
ganizing its  powers  in  such  form  as  to  them  shall  seem  most 
likely  to  effect  their  safety  and  happiness.' 

"Revolution,"  concluded  Kunkle,  "is  change — an  evolution 

to  greater  freedom is  there  anything  terrible  in  greater 

freedom?" 

"FED  NOT  BY  THE  RAVENS 

• 

After  a  satisfying  supper  at-  Dr.  Glendening's,  Clifton, 
Colo..  Frank  and  Bob  exposed  the  Mooney  Frame-up  in  an 
open-air  meeting.  Book  sales  and  collection  amounted  to  $2.65 
— thanks  to  the  Doctor's  generosity,  which  also  included  an 
invitation  to  park  the  car  in  his  yard,  whereupon  Mrs.  Glen- 
dening  presented  Frank  with  some  home-canned  fruit  and 
sweet  milk. 

The  next  morning,  an  early  start  put  the  Mooney  car  in 
Palasaides,  before  breakfast,  where  Tomkins,  a  restauranter, 
tumbled  out  of  bed,  and  serving  the  agitators,  said:  "On  your 
way  out,  see  McGinney  at  the  pump-house;  he'll  give  you  in- 
formation about  unions  ahead." 

The  drive  thru  Plateau  any  on,  where  verdant  things  clung 
to  fantastic  rock- forms,  made  by  water  washing  over  them,  in 
ages  past,  drew  many  exclamations  from  Frank  and  Bob. 

Failure  to  find  anyone  in  the  village  of  Debeque,  willing  to 
"bend"  the  Sabbath  by  selling  gas  or  bread,  and  a  puncture, 
forcing  an  early  camp.  Bob  showed  Frank  how  to  make — 

"BANNOCKS" 

"Scoop  a  hole  in  the  flour,  drop  in  a  pinch  of  salt,  teaspoon 
of  sugar,  teaspoon  of  baking  powder  and  a  cup  of  water ;  mix 

a  soft  dough,  flatten  and  fry  in  a  well-greased  pan to 

brown  on  top  lean  against  fire." 

A  dime  was  squandered  in  Grand  Valley  for  cherries;  the 
peddler,  Mr.  Waters,  learning  the  "tourists"  were  agitators — 
filled  a  larger  sack,  gratis. 

17 


At  Rifle,  Bob  was  informed  by  Housemayer,  a  union  baker, 
that  a  meeting  was  impossible  as  everyone  was  searching  for 
the  bodies  of  the  local  editor's  three  children,  who  had  been 
drowned  in  Rifle  Creek,  that  morning.  The  40  cents  secured 

by  literature  sales,  paid  for  a  gallon  of  gas and  still  left 

two  nickels  in  the.  family  purse. 

Failing  to  locate  unionists  in  Newcastle,  the  Mooney-ites 
drove  on  and  made  camp,  near  a  rippling  brook.  Bob  yelled  at 
"a  bare-foot  boy  Avith  cheeks  of  tan  and  rolled  up  pantaloons," 
carrying  a  big  fish,  "How  much?" 

"Nickel,"  was  the  shy  reply. 

"ALL  IS  NOT  GOLD  THAT  GLITTERS" 

While  the  fish  Avas  frying,  a  couple,  each  leading  a  horse 
to  water,  exchanged  greetings  and  Bob  asked,  "Will  you  sell 
us  five  cents  worth  of  milk?" 

"Yes  sir,"  replied  the  Avoman  and  rambled  on,  '^raveling 
by  auto  must  be  lovely !  That's  what  we'd  do,  too,  if  we  had 
money!" 

"Having  nothing,  yet  possessing  all  things,"  Frank  and 
Bob  were  greatly  amused  at  the  simple  faith  that,  "all  is  gold 
that  glitters." 

Over  good  roads,  paralleling  the  Grand  River,  hedged  Ayith 
high  peaks,  green  covered  and  streaked  with  red  rock,  arrival 
was  made  at  GlenAA7ood  Springs — a  healthy  place  for  those  of 
wealth — but  no  place  for  Frank  and  Bob,  whose  wealth  was 
their  good  health. 

Several  local  unionists  refused  to  be  identified  with  a 
Mooney  meeting,  but  bought  literature.  These  feAv  jingling 
dimes,  encouraged  Bob  and  he  hustled  to  the  shops  to  see  the 
last  "prospect,"  Kimmerling,  a  machinist,  whose  salutation 
was,  "What  the  hell  can  I  do  for  you?" 

"Will  you  help  me  arrange  a  Mooney  open-air  meeting," 
challenged  Bob. 

"Yu  betcha,"  was  the  instant  reply,  "and  if  literature  sales 
won't  buy  gas  to  the  next  burg,  I  Avill ..." 

ALL— TRUE  AS  STEEL 

"No  ordinance  against  street  speaking — we  believe  in  free 
speech — but  it  is  useless  to  talk  Mooney  here;  this  ain't  no 
workin'  man's  toAvn,"  argued  the  Commissioners — a  fotografer 
and  two  druggists. 

"Damn  'em!  I'll  get  a  presto  tank  and  lumber  and  we'll 
build  a  screen  and  nail  it  to  your  car,"  was  the  snappy  de- 

18 


cision  of  Kimmerling,  when  Bob  told  him  the  druggists,  the 
hotel  man  and  the  two  bankers  had  refused  permission  to  use 
light  socket  or  to  hang  screen  on  their  buildings. 

"I  get  the  Irish  World,  and  know  about  the  Mooney  case," 
was  Father  Connors  greeting  to  Frank,  at  the  close  of  the 
meeting.  "The  hotel  man,  switching  on  the  veranda  lights, 
which  dimmed  your  pictures,  and  the  autoist  who  splashed 
mud  on  your  screen  and  honked  his  horn  so  vigorously,  shall 
both  be  reminded  of  their  un-Christian-like  action" — and  the 
Father's  eyes  snapped  his  indignation. 

Happy  with  success  of  the  meeting  and  congratulations 
from  local  unionists,  for  holding  it  in  spite  of  obstacles  and 
breaking  the  monotony  of  their  daily  humdrum  existance,  Bob 
would  not  anger,  when  he  had  to  carry  "food"  for  the  cavernous 
stomach  of  an  ever  hunger  gas-eater. 

"A  4:00  a.  m.  start  will  put  you  past  the  steam-shovel,  be- 
fore work  begins  and  be  careful,"  was  the  gas  man's  warning. 
"It  is  dangerous  driving  thru  the  Grand  Canyon,  but  if  you 
want  nature  in  the  raw — you'll  get  it,  roaring  river,  over-hang- 
ing cliffs  and  all." 

"BATTLE  MOUNTAIN" 

"Sure,  I'll  get  the  boys  together  after  supper,  for  an  open- 
air  meeting,"  said  Charles  Rush,  locomotive  engineer,  at  Min- 
turn.  Dimes  secured  at  this  meeting  bought  the  gas  that  took 
the  Mooney  car  up  "Battle  Mountain,"  without  a  mishap — de- 
spite assertions  of  wise  guys  "that  you  can't  do  it  in  that  thing" 
— to  Gilman,  a  copper  camp,  where  a  blowout  wrecked  a  casing 
and  four  hours  was  lost  in  repairs — and  seeing  a  Mr.  Maroney, 
an  alleged  socialist,  who  said.  "The  miners  here  and  in  Redclif 
don't  need  unions,  because  the  Big  Bosses  pay  union  wages  and 
work  union  hours " 

"Why?"  barked  the  Mooney  Agitator. 

"To  keep  the  unions  out,"  muttered  Maroney. 

"Then,  indirectly  Unionism  got  decent  hours  and  wages  in 
these  camps  and  you  fellows  haven't  the  guts  to  organize  and 
pay  your  share,"  sneered  Bob,  stepping  on  the  gas. 

Frank  picked  a  different  variety  of  flowers,  each  time  the 
motor  was  cooled,  in  the  labored  climb  to  Tennessee  Pass — The 
Continental  Divide.  With  a  parting  glance  at  the  Pacific 
Slope  and  Holy  Cross  Mountain,  the  long  coast  began  into 
Leadville — one  of  the  highest  and  best  known  mining  "camps" 
in  the  world — where  gold,  silver,  copper,  lead  and  zinc  are 
mined  10.150  feet  above  the  sea. 

19 


Here,  union  officials  requested  Bob  to  drive  on,  as  a  strike 
had  been  called  for  5 :00  p.  m.,  to  force  a  dollar  a  day  wage 
increase  and  as  the  mine  operators  had  imported  scabs,  gunmen 
and  militia,  bloodshed  and  violence  was  feared. 

"WE'LL  STARVE  'EM" 

A  handsome  donation  from  the  Leadville  miners,  for  the 
Mooney  defense,  had  been  Bob's  ambition — and  disappoint- 
ment was  keen.  While  Bob  was  selling  old  casings,  to  the 
local  junk-dealer,  to  buy  gas,  oil  and  eats,  a  well-dressed  and 
-fed  boy,  thinking  no  doubt  she  was  a  tourist,  said  to  Frank : 
"The  merchants  have  agreed  with  the  Operators,  not  to  extend 
credit  to  the  strikers.  We'll  show  'em;  we'll  make  'em  come 
to  time,  or  we'll  starve  'em ' 

"He's  the  son  of  Mr.  -  — ,  a  city  official,"  explained  the 
manager  of  the  Co-operative  store,  who,  on  seeing  the  Mooney 
pennant  from  the  window,  came  to  introduce  himself  to  Frank 
and  heard  the  boy's  last  words. 

"And  isn't  it  hell,"  lamented  the  manager,  "the  merchants 
did  the  same  thing  in  the  '96  strike,  so  old  timers  tell  me. 
Strike  was  against  a  reduction  in  wages,  which  God  knows 
was  low  enough,  considering  that  a  miner,  who  works  in  car- 
bonate lead  ores,  only  lives  about  eight  years.  They  get  lead 
poisoning,  which  at  first  effects  the  fingers,  hands  and  wrists, 
then  'wrist-drop'  renders  them  so  useless  they  cannot  lift  a 
coffee  cup  to  theip-  lips.  This  occupational  disease  effects 
miners  quicker  than  pottery  workers,  house-painters,  glass- 
makers,  plumbers  and  printers  or  any  other  craftsmen,  who 
come  in  contact  with  lead  in  their  daily  grind.  This  strike  at- 
tracted national  attention,  lasting  from  June  19,  1896,.  to  March 
9,  1897.  The  mine  operators  wanted  an  excuse  to  call  in  state 
troops,  so  art  unimportant  shaft-house  blew  up.  .  .  Then  sol- 
diers with  rapid-fire  guns  and  cannons  came  and  the  bull  pen 
and  governmental  machinery  whipped  the  miners  into  accept- 
ing lower  wages.  Tell  your  husband  I  want  to  see  him.  If 
you  need  foods — I'll  treat  you  right." 

He  kept  his  word.  After  Frank  had  spent  70  cents  for  gro- 
•ceries,  he  presented  her  with  two  cantalopes  she  had  been  eye- 
ing. 

A  cloud-burst  near  Granite  caused  the  car  much  work  in 
low  gear  and  its  driver  great  anxiety,  fearing  trouble  from  one 
of  .the  seven  casings  (some  over  each  other)  on  four  wheels. 

Sunday  morning  the  Mooney-ites,  after  a  42-mile  non-stop 

20 


drive,  thru  Buena  Vista  Valley,  of  well  kept  farms  ai A!  vine- 
clad  cottages,  arrived,  Salida,  a  railroad  burg. 

Union  officials  flatly  refused  to  help  arrange  a  Mooney 
meeting. 

"Across  the  foot-bridge,  in  the  shack  among  cabbage  plants, 
lives  Morrison,  the  only  man  active  in  behalf  of  Mooney,"  said 
an  official  of  Machinists',  in  a  tone  plainer  than  words,  "get 
the  hell  out  of  here!" 

"THE  ONLY  MAN" 

"Say,  are  you  a  Mooney-ite?"  demanded  Bob  querulously. 
The  fellow  oiling  the  motor,  straightened ;  gave  Bob  the  once- 
over; squirted  tobacco  juice  thru  a  crack  of  the  pump-house 
wall  and  ripped: 

"Yes,  what  the  hell  is  it  to  you." 

Rain  prevented  an  immediate  meeting.  A  fishing  and  wood- 
gathering  trip  was  undertaken  but,  two  miles  from  the  "finest 
trout''  the  car  went  "democratic"  and  had  to  be  towed  back. 

The  weakly  week-advertised  meeting  drew  such  a  small 
crowd  that  literature  sales  were  not  sufficient  to  pay  costs  of 
gas  and  oil,  to  say  nothing  of  the  repair  parts — an  absolute 
necessity  before  car  would  run. 

Morrison  paid  for  the  "parts"  and  helped  Bob  assemble 
them — insisting  that  "Mooney's  neck  was  in  greater  danger 
than  his  stomach." 

While  testing  car  another  mishap  necessitated  further  re- 
pairs. 

"Cheer  up,  Frank,  my  dear;  it's  an  ill  wind  that  doesn't 
blow  someone  some  good,"  quoted  Mother  Morrison,  "and  now 
you'll  have  time  to  make  my  dress " 

"And  Bob,"  chinned  in  Ed.,  "can  teach  me  Esperanto  and 
how  to  develop  films  and  print.  And  I'll  tell  you  folks  about 
the  horrors  of  the  water-cure  and  how  I  fought  for  MY  coun- 
try with  a  gun  and  ate  canned  horse,  peddled  by  paytriotic 
packers." 

Gas,  oil,  parts,  foodstuffs  and  two  weeks  board,  donated  by 
the  Morrisons,  and  for  which  Bob  insisted  on  an  I.  O.  U., 
caused  sentimental  partings,  as  the  bells  reminded  the  faithful 
it  was  Sunday. 

Thru  a  canyon,  beautiful  with  evergreens,  the  car  chugged 
along  a  good  road,  beside  a  swift-flowing  river,  when — "bang" 
— and  a  90  cent  junk  casing  was  ruined ! 

"Look,"  cried  Frank,  while  laying  out  lunch,  "what  Mother 

Morrison,  the  dear  soul,  has  done "  There,  on  top  of  the 

sandwiches,  lay  a  silver  dollar! 

21 


"Kin  yu  gimme  a  lift? — m'  brake V  on  th"  bum,"  wailed  the 
driver  of  a  Texas  Ford,  perilously  sliding  past  Bob,  on  a  two- 
mile  hill.  This  little  job  added  50  cents  to  the  family  purse 
and  gave  Frank  an  extra  rest,  who  was  hiking  to  block  car 
each  time  it  "died"  gas  being  so  low  in  tank  it  would  not 
flow  to  the  carburator,  which  Bob  refilled  by  blowing  into 
tank. 

Acres  of  wonderful  terraced  gardens  were  passed,  just  be- 
fore entering  Canon  City,  where  Colorado's  prison  is  located. 

During  chicken  supper  at  Dr.  A —  — 's,  Frank  and  Bob 
were  dumbfounded,  when  told,  "Those  creations  of  art  (the 
gardens)  were  made  by: 

*  *  *  simple  fools 
"That  break  the  rules 
"In  the  common  wray 
"With  the  common  tools 

"The  future  will  exhibit  our  prisons  and  jails,  as  we  do 
torture  instruments  of  the  Inquisition  and  be  appalled " 

"But  Doctor,"  challenged  Bob,  "prisons  and  jails  are  nec- 
essary  " 

"Yes,  they  are  necessary  to  make  criminals,"  thundered  the 
Doctor.  "Crime  makes  the  wealthy,  wealthier  and  the  poor, 
poorer  and  gives  the  scum  of  professional  officialdom  and 
dirty  politics  a  job,  as  jailer  or  warden,  who  amuse  themselves 
and  friends*  imitating  the  tortures  of  the  Inquisition,  using 
electricity  and  modern  inventions  to  reduce  human  beings,  to 
trembling,  mangled,  hate-ridden  bundles  of  bleeding  flesh " 

"You  seem  to  forget,"  Bob  fetched  the  Doctor  up  short,  "we 
have  a  Bill  of  Rights,  which  says,  'cruel  or  unusual  punish- 
ments are  not  to  be  inflicted — 

"Ha!  ha  !  what's  the  Bill  of  Eights,  among  bullies  in  blue?" 
laughed  the  Doctor.  "Does'nt  Jack  London,  in  'The  Star  Rover,' 
expose  the  straight-jacket  tortures  at  San  Quentin  Prison, 
California?  His  proof — the  fiendish  torture  of  Ed.  Morrell 
in  a  jacket,  for  250  hours — ten  days  and  nights.  Try  a  tight- 
laced  shoe — then  imagine  one's  body  squeezed  in  a  canvas 
jacket,  cinched  with  a  rope,  which  is  never  unlaced,  so  the 
victim  can  go  to  the  toilet. 

"Do  you  think  Charles  Edward  Russell,  in  'Beating  Men 
to  Make  them  Good,'  Hampton's  Magazine,  could  accuse  Ohio 
Prison  authorities  with  'the  habitual  use  of  flogging,  the  water- 

(*The  Arizona  Prison  warden  sent  out  invitations  to  a  state 
murder  feast — an  execution — signed,  "Cordially  yours.") 

22 


cure    and   the  humming-bird' — an   electric,   muscle-cramping, 
torture  device — unless  he  had  a  foundation  of  facts?" 

THE  NATIONAL  'THIRD  DEGREE' 

"And  likewise  'The  Police  Menace'  by  Hugh  C.  Weir  in, 
The  World  Today  would  not  boldly  assert :  'The  Third  Degree 
— often  denied  by  the  police — is  almost  universally  used  in 
these  United  States.  And  he  insists  that  the  'infernal  hum- 
ming-bird is  in  daily  use  by  the  police  of  the  nation,  as  well  as 
the  electric  blaze* — which  when  turned  on  a  bound  victim, 
scorches  the  skin  and  nearly  pops  the  eyes  out  of  his  head.' 
He  also  informs  us  that  'in  England  and  other  civilized  coun- 
tries, the  Third  Degree  is  absolutely  non-existent.' 

"Exaggerations?  Not  on  your  life!  Brand  Whitlock,  in 
'The  Turn  of  the  Balance,'  'hung  Archie  in  the  rings  seven 
days.'  When  denounced  for  wilful  exaggeration,  his  reply  was: 
'He  knew  men  tortured  insane  for  life,  by  hanging  in  the  bull 
rings,  thirty  days  and  nights " 

"Don't  men  take  to  crime  of  their  own  free  will: "  began 

Bob. 

"Some  profess  to  believe  such  humbug,"  partly  agreed  the 
Doctor,  "and  all  the  digusting  charitable  institutions  regard 
criminals  as  sinners,  they  coddle,  weep  over,  pray  for  and  sing 
hymns  at  them.  Thats  all.  No  effort  to  change  the*  cause. 
Christ's  words,  'do  men  gather  grapes  from  thorns,  or  figs  of 
thistles?'  mean  nothing  to  these  God-talkers. 

"Unemployment  is  the  cause  of  crime,"  the  Doctor  ex- 
plained. "To  eat  men  must  have  a  job — there's  the  rub !  When 
the  unemplo3red  are  illegally  arrested  by  deputy  sheriffs  and 
other  officers  'for  revenue  only'  and  forced  into  involuntary 
servitude,  for  no  worse  'crime'  than  being  'broke'  and  when 
these  victims  are  railroaded  to  rock-piles  or  'farmed  out,'  where 
they  are  worked  like  horses  and  fed  like  hogs  and  beat  up,  if 
they  dare  complain  or  protest,  and  then  these  officers  of  the 
law — criminal-makers — brag:  'I  can  arrest  whom  I  will  and 
I  make  from  $5,000  to  $7,000  a  year' — is  it  any  wonder  that 
murder 

OUR  NATIONAL  CRIME 

According  to  the  Chicago  Tribune — has  increased  four  and  a 
half  times  in  late  years?  Tolstoi  was  right  'violence  begets  vio- 

(*Moderately  used  on  Israel  Weinberg,  one  of  the  Mooney 
Case  Defendants  of  San  Francisco.) 

23 


lence'  and  it  can't  be  denied,  despite  the  staggering  sum  of 
$6.000,000,000,  etimated  by  Prof.  Bushriell,  Washington,  D.  C., 
that  the  United  States  pays  for  the  supposed  suppression  of 
crime,  that  crime  is  not  suppressed,  but  increases  daily,  by  cops 
clubbing  inoffensive,  red-blooded  100  per  cent  American  tax- 
payers, who  think  they  have  the  right  to  stand  on  the  side- 
walk, or  by  the  killing  of  some  boy,  looking  on  at  a  crap  game. 

"The  entire  administration  of  criminal  law  is  stupid.  The 
unemployed  stealing  food,  is  not  a  criminal — he  needs  a  job; 
the  degenerate  committing  crime  is  sick — he  needs  a  cot  in  a 
hospital  ward. 

"Eliminate  unemployment,  shorten  hours,  provide  a  real 
living  wage,  introduce  scientific  management  into  industry — 
this  will  stop  a  great  deal  of  crime;  then  pension  the  cops, 
jailers  and  wardens,  poor  fellows,  they  imagine  everyone  with- 
out a  white  collar,  looking  for  a  job,  is  a  crook;  on  top  of  this 
place  the  degenerate  in  a  hospital  and  90  per  cent  of  all  crime 
is  stopped— 

The  arrival  of  Mr.  Hill  and  Mr.  Bartlett,  to  announce  ar- 
rangements completed,  for  an  open-air  meeting  Tuesday  eve- 
ning and  to  help  plan  a  50-mile  lecture  circuit,  touching  six 
coal  camps,  interrupted  the  Doctor. 

To  be  back  in  time  for  the  evening's  meeting,  Frank  and 
Bob  made  an  early  start,  Tuesday  morning,  to  post  notices  and 
see  union  officials. 


Frank  and  Bob  were  congratulating  themselves — no  tire  or 
motor  trouble  and  the  acquaintance  of  several  live  ones,  willing 
to  help  arrange  meetings — when,  without  a  spit  or  pop,  the 
motor  stopped  firing! 

Too  much  oil  had  shorted  and  cracked  the  special  "mag's" 
brush-holder. 

Another  brush-holder,  cost  50  cents.  One  must  be  secured 
— and  that  at  once — to  make  Canon  City,  for  the  evening's 
lecture.  And  the  family  purse  contained— TEN  CENTS. 

"Here  comes  my  papa ;  maybe  he  can  help  you,"  said  one  of 
the  boys,  curiously  looking  at  the  de-assembled  magneto. 

"Who's  your  father?"  growled  Bob. 

"You  know  him,"  replied  the  boy.  "You  wuz  fixin'  a 
lecture  with  him  a  little  while  ago — 

"Can  I  help  you?"  queried  the  boy's  father,  Mr.  Peterson — 
member  Florence  Mooney  Meeting  Committee. 

"Yes;  must  get  a  magneto  part  at  once —  or  I'll  miss  Canon 
City  meeting." 

24 


The  garage-man  stocked  no  Bosch  parts — nearest  agency 
Denver — but  he  gave  permission  to  dig  thru  his  "junk  pile." 

"How  much?"  ecstatically  demanded  Bob,  pointing  to  a 
brush-holder  on  the  distributor-gear  of  a  junked  "mag." 

"Ought  to  be  worth  a  dollar,"  bargained  the  garage-boss. 

"A  dollar?'"  haggled  Bob,  "for  a  50-cent  part— 

"You  win!"  he  compromised,  glimpsing  Bosch  catalog. 

"Here's  your  coin,"  impulsively  chimed  Peterson. 

"That  Swede  must  have  had  a  'hunch'  we  were  broke,"  con- 
cluded Bob,  as  the  car  sped  toward  Canon  City.  .  .  ." 

"Bob.  glad  you  came  early,"  saluted  Mr.  Hill,  who  was 
waiting  at  the  meeting  place,  "for  I  want  you  to  come  with 
me  and  I'll  make  you  acquainted  with  Colorado's  worn-out 
political  prostitute,  a  gutless  tool,  tossed  aside  when  its  mas- 
ters— the  hog-hearted  Mine  Owners — could  no  longer  profit- 
ably use  its  servility,  dispatching  brutal,  blood-thirsty  and 
whiskey-polluted  gunmen  against  strikers. 

"He  put  Cripple  Creek  under  martial  law,  when  3,800  mem- 
bers Western  Federation  of  Miners  went  on  strike  to  enforce 
the  eight-hour  law  and  prevent  discrimination  against  union 
miner*,  whose  wage  of  $1.75  a  day  forced  them  to  exist  in 
'hovels,  deserted  barns  and  huts  patched  with  oil  cant." 

"His  militia  general,  John  C.  Chase,  bull-penned  the  print- 
ers, editor  and  'devil'  of  the  Victor  Record.  This  paper  had 
criticized  the  militiamen.  .  .  .  Free  press — a  so-called  fun- 
damental of  these  United  States — bah ! — was  trampled  under 
foot  and  a  lawyer,  Major  McClelland,  sneered  'to  hell  with 
the  Constitution.'  One  printer  was  over-looked.  At  mid- 
night she  rushed  to  the  Record  office  and  got  out  a  bob-tailed 
edition.  Read  her  book,  '•Labor's  Greatest  Conflicts]  by  Emma 
F.  Langdon?  She's  a  union  printer  of  Denver.  Her  bravery 
put  the  world  wise  but  did  it  check  these 

RAPERS  OF  LIBERTY? 

"Not  on  your  life !  Printers  were  released  and  a  censor 
placed  on  the  Record.  .  .  .  Then  a  mob  smashed  the  ma- 
chinery and  drove  the  printers  out  of  town.  .  .  . 

"Liberty  was  raped,  again,  when  his  militia  took  possession 
of  the  Court  of  Cripple  Creek.  Guards,  gatling-guns  and 
sharp-shooters  greeted  the  judge. 

"General  Chase  with  thirty  cavalrymen,  escorted  the  four 
miner  prisoners — Sherman  Parker,  C.  PI.  McKinney,  Charles 
Campbell  and  James  Lafferty — all  held  without  warrants  or 

^ 


accusations  of  crime — into  the  court,  leaving  for  some  inex- 
plicable reason,  their  horses  outside.  ...  To  make  up  for 
this,  militiamen,  arms  at  present  stood,  backs  to  His  Honor, 
during  four  days'  hearing,  on  a  writ  of  habeas  corpus,  and 
when  District  Judge  Seeds,  of  Teller  County,  September  24, 
1903,  decided  prisoners  were  held  unlawfully  and  ordered  their 
release,  General  Chase  defiantly  barked,  'he'd  not  release  pris- 
oners until  ordered  by  'His  Excellency,  the  Governor  and  Com- 
mander-in  Chief.'  'His  Excellency'  wired:  'Release  prisoners.' 
But  in  the  case  of  Victor  Poole,  a  union  quartz  miner,  bull- 
penned  for  weeks,  'His  Excellency'  proclaimed:  'That  .  .  . 
writ  of  habeas  corpus  be  suspended  in  his  case.'  Eventually  a 
justice  of  peace  dismissed  Poole — for  lack  of  evidence. 

"The  rawest  frame-up  was  when  the  militia  arrested  Char- 
les McKinney  and  P.  Hi  Mullaney  and  charged  them  with  at- 
tempting to  wreck  the  Florence  and  Cripple  Creek  train,  No. 
51.  McKinney,  after  his  arrest,  turned  State's  evidence,  and 
in  a  confession  (?)  implicated  three  executives  of  the  miners — 
Thomas  Foster,  Sherman  Parker  and  W.  F.  Davis — who  were 
indicted. 

"General  Bell  prated  to  the  press,  he  had  conclusive  evi- 
dence, backed  by  two  detectives,  D.  C.  Short  and  K.  C.  Sterl- 
ing, employees  of  the  Railroad  and  Mine  Owners.  .  .  . 

"Engineer  Wm.  Rush  testified  that  Detective  Scott  the  day 
before  the  attempted  wreck  asked  him  the  best  place  to  derail 
a  train.  The  engineer  suggested  a  high  embankment  near 
Anaconda.  When  he  was  'tipped,'  he  stopped  his  train  and 
found  a  loosened  rail  'at  the  very  place  .  .  .  suggested' 
by  himself!" 

"Federation  attorneys  also  secured  a  confession  from  Mc- 
Kinney, saying  he  did  not  know  a  thing  about  the  crime;  that 
the  miners  were  innocent;  that  his  other  confessions  were  in- 
stigated by  Detectives  Scott  and  Sterling.  Further,  defense 
produced  a  letter  he  had  written  his  wife,  exonerating  the 
miners;  also  evidence  that  Charles  McKinney  was  a  cattle  and 
horse  thief — a  fine  bird  for  state's  star  witness,  eh? 

"Yes,"  agreed  Bob,  "the  star  witness  against  Mooney  was 
a  cattle  faker  from  Oregon,  by  the  name  of  Oxman,  under  in- 
dictment in  Indiana,  where  he  left  a  wife  and  numerous  off- 
spring in  his  hurried  flight  to  avoid  arrest — " 

'"Well,"  continued  Hill,  "Mckinney  swore  that  all  his  con- 
fessions were  fakes,  except  the  one  relating  to  Detectives  Scott 
and  Sterling.  .  .  .  Under  cross-examination  he  admitted 
he'd  do  a  rail-loosening  job  for  $250.00,  or  commit  most  any 
other  crime — for  money.  .  .  . 

26 


"A  butcher.  Victor  Maher,  affirmed  that  passing  the  place 
where  the  rail  was  loosened  night  of  Nov.  16,  1903,  he  saw  two 
men  loitering.  When  asked  if  either  was  in  court,  he  pointed 
to  Detective  Scott,  saying,  'this  is  the  man  .  .  .  that  I  saw 
with  a  bar  in  his  hand,  or  a  piece  of  steel.'  A.  jury  in  thirty 
minutes  found  the  accused  miners — " 

Hill  hurried  diagonally  across  a  prim  lawrn  to  a  wizened 
old  man.  opening  a  door  in  an  arch-way  of  a  stone  house,  which 
at  a  distance  one  might  mistake  for  a  sepulcher,  and  said : — 

"Mr.  Peabody.  I  want  to  introduce  my  friend,  Mr.  Black- 
stone,  traveling  by  automobile  across  the  continent,  lecturing 
about  the  Mooney  Frame-up — " 

"Step  in,  gentlemen,"  mumbled  the  cadaverous  Peabody, 
acknowledging  introduction  by  a  clammy  hand-shake. 

"Some  .years  ago  Peabody  was  wined  and  dined  as  the  idol 
of  the  Mine  Owners,"  explained  Hill,  as  he  and  Bob  took  leave 
of  the  ex-Governor,  "but  now,  to-day — " 

"To-day."'  interjected  Bob.  "he's  a  useless  carcass — " 

"Poverty  stricken  and  in  debt  to  his  grocer,"  finished  Hill. 
"Truly  the  way  of  the  transgressor  is  hard." 

"Say,  tell  me,"  spurted  Bob,  "what  the  jury  did  with  those 
miners — framed  on  the  train- wrecking  charge?" 

"Why.  that  biased  jury,"  resumed  Hill,  "found  those  strike 
leaders — Foster.  Parker  and  Davis — not  guilty.  Imagine  the 
consternation  of  those  high-speed  liars,  when  this  happened ! 
But  soon  an  explosion,  probably  accidental,  on  the  600-foot 
level  of  the  Vindicator  mine,  which  killed  Superintendent 
Charles  McCormick  and  Shift-boss  Melvin,Beck,  gave  Bell, 
the  military  dictator,  an  excuse  to  bull-pen  another  dozen  strike 
leaders,  among  them  Sherman  Parker  and  C.  G.  Kennison,  and 
never  troubling  to  make  an  investigation,  General  Bell  de- 
clared to  the  press : 

"  'Conditions  in  Cripple  Creek  are  awful.  After  blowing 
up  the  Vindicator  mine  plans  were  to  blow  up  one  mine  after 
another.  ...  It  was  a  deep  laid  plot  and  would  have 
carried  to  perfection,  but  for  the  .  .  .  military  .  .  . 
and  the  prompt  arrests.' ' 

"And  tho  this  braggard's  lies  were  nailed  by  the  verdict  of 
the  coroner's  jury  and.  later,  the  acquittal  of  these  miners, 
there  are  thousands  who  still  say.  'The  strikers  blew  up  the 
mine — the  papers  said  so.  .  .  .'  r 

WOX  BY  DYNAMITE  AND  GUNS 

"A  strike  i>  war  and  wars  are  won  by  those  who  command 
the  guns!  Miners'  ballots  captured  the  primaries:  miners'  stores 

27 


were  putting  members  of  the  Citizen's  Alliance  (Chamber  of 
Commerce)  out  of  business;  miners  were  so  law-abiding,  the 
militia  was  removed;  miners'  organized  solidarity  and  non- 
violence, was  winning.  This  was  too  much  for  the  Mine  Own- 
ers' Association,  Citizen's  Alliance  and  those  wolves  in  sheep's 
clothing,  that  notoriously  un-American  institution  of  traitors 
— the  Pinkerton  Detective  Agency — say  Bob,"  Hill  interrupted 
himself,  "you  must  read  The  Pinkerton  Labor  /Spy,  by  Morris 
Friedman.  He  gives  the  dope  on  the  Pinkertons;  shows  how 
they  become  secretaries  and  presidents  and  even  organizersof 
International  Unions — 

"Well,  the  big  drive  began,  when  an  explosion  wrecked  the 
depot  at  Independence  and  killed  15  non-union  miners,  as  the 
2:15  morning  train  June  6,  1904,  running  slower  than  usual, 
puffed  to  a  stop  several  yards  from  the  station.  .  .  . 

"When  Sheriff  Robertson  and  other  regular  officers  of 
Teller  county,  started  an  investgatian,  they  were  conducted  to 
the  Military  Club  and  given  the  choice  of  resigning  or  hang- 
ing— they  resigned ! 

"Many  civil  officers  elected  by  the  'dear  peepul,'  including 
Marshall  O'Connell  of  Victor  and  the  City  Council  of  Gold- 
field,  as  they  signed  their  resignations,  wyere  bull-penned — " 

"A  hell  of  a  lot  of  good  their  ballots  did  them,  eh?"  exple- 
torated  Bob. 

"All  the  county  o'fficesy"  asserted  Hill,  "were  filled,  by  ap- 
pointing either  Mine  Owners  or  mine  superintendents.  The 
mines  were  closed  and  strike-breakers  armed.  Then  mobs,  led 
by  such  men  as  A.  E.  Carlton,  banker  and  Mine  Owner,  and 
composed  of  scabs,  militia  and  business  men  of  the  Citizens' 
Alliance — never  troubling  to  look  for  those  guilty  of  the  hoi- 
rible  crime — began  wrecking  the  Union's  stores,  one  of  which 
had  done  a  $70,000  business  in  six  months. 

"War  began,  when  Hamlin,  secretary  of  the  Mine  Owners, 
howled  to  the  mobbers,  'Let's  drive  the  Federation  men  to  the 
hills.'  As  he  said  this,  someone  shot  at  him  and  missed — then 
for  twenty  minutes  the  mobbers  fired  on  headquarters,  ceasing 
only  when  miners  displayed  a  white  flag;  prisoners  totaled 
44;  several  wounded,  some  dying  and  a  wagonload  of  provis- 
ions, guns  and  ammunition  were  captured. 

"The  Mine  Owners,  backed  by  Peabody's  military,  bull- 
penned  every  union  miner  and  sympathizer  in  the  Cripple 
Creek  district;  fed  'em  on  bread  and  water  and  hung  'em  up 
by  their  thumbs  until  innocent  men,  demented  by  pain,  con- 
fessed to  some  crime.  These  unionists,  taxpayers,  who  owned 
their  own  homes,  were  deported  and  dumped  by  the  carload, 
on  the  barren  plains  of  Kansas,  or  the  deserts  of  New  Mexico, 

28 


without  food  or  water  and  told  if  they  returned  to  their  wives 
and  children  'it  would  be  a  bullet  or  a  rope— 

"Peabody  'farmed'  the  militia  to  Mine  Owners  and  'De- 
tective Agencies,'  hired  their  gunmen  and  thugs  to  the  Citi- 
zens' Alliance — against  this  array  of  organized  violence,  the 
miners,  demanding  more  money  for  the  only  thing  they  had  to 
sell — their  labor  power — were  absolutely  helpless. 

"The  Mine  Owners  yapped,  the  Federation  was  guilty,  but 
civil  officers  appointed  by  themselves,  did  not  dare  indict  one 
striker,  or  anyone  else,  for  the  Independence  depot  crime — 
giving  the  lie  direct  to  their  own  assertions  that  the  Federa- 
tion was  guilty.  If  so,  why  deport  instead  of  trying  them? 

"It  is  claimed  that  out  of  the  hundreds  of  strikers  arrested, 
not  one  member  of  the  Western  Federation  of  Miners  was 
convicted  of  even  a  misdemeanor  growing  out  of  the  strike. 

"Thus  the  Mine  Owners,  using  dynamite,  guns  and  deporta- 
tion, won  the  strike!  .Damn  'em  they  talked  ballots,  but  used 
bullets.  .  .  ." 

Attendance  at  meetings  around  Canon  City  were  meager, 
excepting  Florence.  This  was  discouraging  to  Frank  and  Bob 
— especially  so  at  Chandler.  Here  a  miner  pointed  to  a  hill, 
on  which  the  strikers,  during  the  Colorado  Coal  War,  mount- 
ed a  canon — a  civil  war  relic — "borrowed"  at  night  from  the 
park  at  Canon  City.  It  was  then  loaded  with  shooting  powder 
and  nuts,  bolts,  chunks  of  iron,  nails  and  buckshot  substituted 
for  cannon  balls. 

"The  first  shot  will  be  the  signal  to  light  the  cannon's  fuse, 
which  will  blow  you  all  to  hell,"  was  the  ultimatum  sent  to 
the  machine  gunners,  in  the  mine  tipple. 

After  the  strike,  a  powder  expert  unloaded  the  cannon  and 
when  he  noted  the  quantity  of  the  contents,  laughed:  "The 
poor  fools!  If  they  had  lit  the  fuse,  it  would  have  exploded 
and  blown  them  all  to  hell!" 

THEIR  FIRST  "COAL  FACE" 

Frank  and  Bob  visited  the  underground  workings  of  the 
Chandler  coal  mine,  got  wet  to  the  skin,  going  down  in  the 
^age ;  was  kidded  by  the  miners,  who  concluded  they  were  stock- 
holders on  a  sight-seeing  trip;  saw  their  first  "coal  face"  and 
19  mules  that  never  leave  the  mine,  except  when  they  die,  or 
the  kind-hearted  miners,  deciding  to  strike,  remove  them.  .  . 

At  Radiant — or  Pyrolite — name  used  depends  on  whether 
one  is  looking  for  coal  or  mail — the  meeting  was  disrupted  by 
the  miners'  kids,  who  flocked  to  see  the  slides,  but  were  not 

29 


sufficiently  interested  to  preserve  order.  Yet  Mooney  had 
championed  the  cause  of  their  fathers,  when  they  were  on 
strike.  .  .  . 

"Say,  you'll  have  a  good  meeting  in  this  camp,"  welcomed 
Davis,  vice-president  of  the  local  union  of  Gold  Creek  "We 
know  what  frame-ups  are.  Several  strikers  were  framed,  dur- 
ing our  strike,  by  gun-toting  pimps.  I  was  in  for  21  months — 
accused  of  murder !  Sorry  you  hit  the  place  at  this  slack  time, 
but  we'll  do  the  best  we  can.  .  .  ." 

The  owner  (an  Italian)  of  the  only  picture  show  in  Rock- 
vale,  said :  "Yes,  I  run  your  slides :  I  know  Mooney  case,  and 
I  no  want  rent."  At  this  meeting  a  $2.50  collection  was  se- 
cured and  ten  books  sold. 

Here  the  local  stableman  was  adapting  himself  to  the  en- 
croachment of  automobiles  by  selling  gas,  oil  and  hiring  a 
mechanic,  who  drove  his  "jitney,"  did  repairing  and  to  make 
it  a  day's  work,  acted  as  "chamber-maid"  to  the  horses. 

While  Bob  was  getting  gas  and  oil,  a  car  badly  "missing" 
loped  into  the  "garage."  The  peeved  driver  demanded : 

"What's  wrong  with  this  dern  thing?  Chase  that  mechan- 
ic here,  Smith.  .  .  ." 

"Can't,"  sighed  Smith,  "he's  away  in  the  jitney — 

"My  gawd!     Can't  you  fix  it?"  begged  the  autoist. 

"Boss,  I  know  all  about  a  hoss,  I  can  fix  his  innards  and 
rub  his  j'ints,  but  when  it  comes  to  ortas'  innards  and  you- 
niversal  j'ints.  I'm  up  aginst  it.  But  say,"  continued  Smith, 
as  a  happy  thot  flooded  his  think  tank,  "here's  a  feller  tourin' 
the  country;  maybe  he  can  fix  it." 

"Bob  made  it  "talk"  and  as  he  tucked  a  dollar  in  the  family 
purse,  Smith  invited  him  to  camp  in  the  garage,  out  of  the 
rain. 

At  Florence,  on  Sunday,  owing  to  advertising  by  the  Pet- 
ersons and  the  Rouses,  many  braved  the  rain  to  hear  about  the 
Mooney  Frame-up.  Next  morning  Frank  and  Bob  were  awak- 
ened by  Mr.  Peterson  with  a  sack  of  vegetables  and  apples, 
and  Mr.  Rouse,  who  invited  them  to  breakfast.  .  .  . 

"THEIR  MASTER'S  VOICE" 

Two  days  later,  the  car  limped  into  Pueblo  on  three  inflat- 
ed casings  and  one  rim.  David  MacGrew  helped  arrange  a 
meeting  in  a  suburb — Bessemer — where  the  Colorado  Fuel  and 
Iron  Company — locally  called,  'the  C.  F.  and  I.'  a  Rockefeller 
possession — has  a  steel  plant. 

30 


When  the  quitting  whistle — the  master's  voice — knelled  the. 
parting  day,  Bob  megaphoned  the  workers  about  the  meeting. 

That  night,  as  the  Mooney  Agitator  began  to  speak,  a 
husky  bull,  elbowing  thru  the  crowd  yelled,  "Hey !  you — 

"A  GAMBLER'S  FEAST" 

" — Yu  can't  talk  here,''  challenged  the  cop.  "The  medicine 
faker  has  paid  $10.00  for  this  corner  to-night— 

"Possession  is  nine  points  of  law,"  bluffed  Bob,  "and  I 
got  the  corner — 

"If  yu  don't  beat  it,  I'll  have  yu,"  snarled  the  bull..         .     . 

"You're  lucky  the  cop  let  you  talk  on  any  corner,"  said  a 
husky,  giving  his  name  as  Carpenter.  "Bessemer  is  some  scab 
town.  Rockefeller  works  us  12  to  16  hours  and  many  get  only 
$2.50  a  day.  We're  ripe  for  organization —  Meet  my  brother 
from  Kansas,  and  my  neighbor,  Mr.  Currie.  We've  lots  of 
room;  come  out  and  camp — " 

"That's  a  good  idea,"  encouraged  Mr.  Currie.  "Gimme  a 
dollar's  worth  of  that  Mooney  mental  dynamite,  and,  if  you 
come  out,  you  can  cook  breakfast  in  my  tent — there's  bacon 
and  eggs  and  flap- jack  flour — 

"A  gambler's  feast ! . .  exclaimed  Bob.    "Sure  we'll  come — 

"And  when  you  get  to  Kansas  City,  come  and  stay  at  my 
house,"  invited  Mr.  Carpenter  from  Kansas.  .  .  . 

"DAMN  SUCH  CARD  MEN !" 

Bob  talked  to  Pueblo  Holders'  Union  and  learned  they 
were  one  of,  if  not  the  first  molder's  union  to  champion  Broth- 
er Mooney — member  of  Molders  168  of  San  Francisco — with 
real  money — $275.00. 

But  as  Secretary  Dillon  would  not  answer  their  letters, 
asking  if  Mooney  was  wTorthy  of  their  support,  they  sent  a*- 
investigator.  He  ascertained  that  "brother"  Dillon  wrorked  ( ? ) 
as  claim  clerk  for  the  District  Attorney  who  was  prosecuting 
Mooney  .  .  . 

"Damn  such  card  men."  exploded  Brother  Longfellow, 
"but  we've  had  'em  from  the  day  the  International  Molders' 
Union  was  organized  in  July,  1859.  Yet  one  can't  convince 
the  average  unionist  that  strategic  locals  have  their  labor  spies. 

"Had  ours  'wray  back  in  1904,  when  the  G.  F.  and  I.  sent 
to  Denver  for  a  Pinkerton  labor  spy  to  work  in  their  foundry. 

"The  Pinkertons  struck  "a  snag;  after  they  hired  a  union 
molder  to  do  their  dirty  work,  for  Denver  Molder  refused  to 

31 


a  transfer  card  to  anyone  coming  here.  We  had  asked 
them  to  do  this,  so  as  to  guard  us  against  traitors. 

"Chicago  Pinkertons  then  loaned  Operative  No.  88,  named 
Walter  E.  Agate,  a  practical  molder  with  a  union  card,  to  the 
Denver  Branch. 

"This  traitor  blew  into  Pueblo,  made  the  rounds  of  the 
foundries  looking  for  a  job.  (These  operatives  must  get  their 
own  jobs,  if  possible,  so's  not  to  'rouse  suspicion.)  Couldn't 
find  one,  and  local  molders  out  of  work  hinted  'move  on.' 

"Said  he  couldn't,  as  'doctor  had  told  him  that  if  he  wanted 
to  save  his  wife's  life  he  must  move  to  Colorado,  and  that  he 
would  take  any  kind  of  a  job,'  which  he  did,  repairing  sewers, 
at  $1.75  per  day. 

"This  inspired  confidence.  Soon  he  had  a  job  at  HIS 
TRADE  and  could  send  for  his  sick  wife.  .  .  .  He  af- 
fected indifference  to  the  union,  and  never  attended  meetings, 
until  'the  boys'  coaxed,  urged  and  even  bullied  him — the  very 
thing  the  son-of-a-gun  was  waiting  for.  He  warmed  up  and 
soon  was  taking  an  active  part,  and  at  our  FIRST  ELEC- 
TION AFTER  HIS  ARRIVAL  WE  ELECTED  HIM  SEC- 
RETARY—'- 

"Say,  tell  that  Mooney  agitator  there's  a  guy  at  the  door 
wants  to  see  him,"  roared  a  voice  from  the  rear  of  the  hall. 

Bob  found  MacGrew  waiting  to  make  him  acquainted  with 
Mary  Ware  Dennett,  from  New  York,  organizer  for  the  Peo- 
ple's Council  (whose  National  Convention  was  ruthlessly  sup- 
pressed by  the  War  Party,  ably  assisted  by  so-called  radicals, 
who  feared  the  Council's  incipient  power). 

Frank  and  Bob  were  greatly  impressed  by  Mrs.  Dennett's 
personality  and  assertion: 

"The  war  hysteria  now  possessing  the  American  people  will 
sweep  into  our  loathsome  prisons  the  men  and  women  of  high 
ideals— who  believe  as  the  'Prince  of  Peace' — 'Thou  shalt  not 
kill.' 

She  liberally  bought  literature,  wished  Frank  and  Bob 
God-speed  and  hastened  to  catch  a  train.  .  .  . 

The  most  pleasant,  best  equipt  and  cleanest  tourist  park  in 
the  West,  the  Mooney  agitators  found  in  the  outskirts  of 
Pueblo,  where  a  Mrs.  Wheeler,  of  Los  Angeles,  told  Frank 
mechanics  had  failed  to  fix  her  car,  after  working  for  three 
days. 

In  three  hours  Bob  repaired  her  car,  earning  $2.50,  and 
then  deciding  to  ship  car  home,  she  gave  him  a  casing,  tube, 
pump,  some  preserves,  canned  milk  and  remaining  gas,  after 
car  was  driven  onto  loading  platform.  .  .  . 

32 


TIRE  HELL 

A  delay,  pawing  hundreds  of  junked  casings,  at  Bernstein's 
to  find  a  "good  one,"  and  then  a  blow-out  forced  early  camping 
seven  miles  from  Pueblo. 

"Where  to?"  demanded  Bob  of  a  "foot  tourist." 

"TV  Springs,"  laconically  replied  the  hiker. 

"If  you'll  pump  this  tire — you  can  BREAK-fast  with  us 
and  ride,"  bribed  Bob. 

All  day  in  the  intense  heat,  Frank,  Bob  and  their  "passen- 
ger"— Mr.  Ditzel,  of  New  York — struggled  with  blow-outs  and 
traveled  only  five  miles,  and  when  car  was  parked  in  a  country 
school  yard,  on  four  fully  inflated  casings,  the  trio  decided 
"the  jinx"  had  departed — but  during  supper  another  blow-out 
discordantly  whistled  a  jig-time  tune  for  "the  jinx's"  return. 

During  the  third  day,  the  Mooney  agitators  and  their  "star 
boarder"  made  three  miles  and  had  twelve  blow-outs! 

Early  the  fourth  day,  the  Mooney  car  overtook  a  "green" 
driver,  who  had  flooded  his  motor  with  oil.  Bob  drained  the 
crank-case,  cleaned  plugs,  and  charged  a  dollar.  About  noon 
a  perplexed  autoist,  his  smoking  car  near  a  well,  demanded: 

"What  do  you  suppose  is  wrong?  My  motor  was  awfully 
hot.  I  was  about  to  stop  it — when  it  stopped  firing.  Guess 
I'll  fill  the  radiator—" 

"Do,"  sarcastically  agreed  Bob,  "and  you'll  need  a  new 
'head'—" 

"Golly,  you're  right!"  exclaimed  he  of  the  hot  motor. 
"Maybe  you'll  locate  the  trouble  for  me." 

Bob  connected  the  ground  wire  and  then  spent  an  hour 
cleaning  a  clean  magneto,  so  as  to  earn  his  money. 

A  LABOR  LEADER  PASSES  THE  BUCK 

A  blow-out  forced  a  16-mile  run  on  the  front  rim  into 
Colorado  Springs,  ending  a  Y5-mile  trip  in  four  days. 

"Have  an  open-air  meeting.  You  can't  get  people  in  a  hall 
this  hot  weather,"  argued  several  unionists  to  Miss  Benson, 
who  was  arranging  Mooney  lecture. 

All  thot  it  would  be  easy  to  get  a  permit,  as  a  local  labor 
leader  had  been  elected  a  commissioner  of  public  safety.  .  .  . 
But  this  "labor  skate"  passed  the  "buck"  to  his  police  chief, 
who  solemnly  lied: 

"I  believe  in  free  speech,  but  yu  can't  talk  Mooney  on  the 
streets  here!" 

Rain  forced  Bob  to  buy  a  much-needed  canvas,  but  before 

33 


he  returned  with  it,  Frank  was  drenched,  as  well  as  the  luj 
gage,  owing  to  a  leaky  top.   . 

After  a  hot  supper.  Bob  relieved  Mr.  Ditzel's  anxiety  of 
sleeping  on  the  extra  cot  in  the  rain  by  giving  him  100  of  the 
150  cents  in  the  family  purse,  with  the  suggestion,  "get 
room,"  which  proves  that  "Only  those  who  have  little,  give 
those  who  have  less.  .  .  ." 

"HOME,  SWEET  HOME" 

Across  Prospect  Lake  from  where  Frank  and  Bob  wei 
camped,  in  the  auto  park,  reared  a  magnificent  white  lava  stor 
building,  trimmed  with  red  sandstone,  surrounded  by  mani 
acres  of  lawn,  abounding  in  flowers  and  shrubs,  with  rows  oi 
alternating  elms  and  maples,  extending  to  a  triple-arch-gate- 
way of  stone.  .  .  . 

"Can  you  tell  me,  inquired  Bob  of  an  elderly  man,  "what 
institution  that  is?" 

"It's  my  home!"  he  emphasized,  his  eyes  a-twinkle. 

"The  devil  you  say!"  Bob  blurted. 

"Yep;  me  and  75,000  more  printers  own  that  shack — " 

"The  Union  Printers'  Home?"  interrogated  Bob.  "I've 
heard  about  it.  Gee.  it's  some  home!" 

"The  only  thing  like  it  in  the  world,"  the  veteran  boasted. 
"Years  ago,  sick  or  disabled  printers  were  the  victims  of  char- 
ity, but  since  opening  the  'Home' — July,  1892 — about  2,500 
have  been  spared  that  damnable  humiliation.  .  .  .  And 
rich  publishers  dp  not  maintain  the  Home  with  donations, — 
aside  from  the  original  $10,000  'starting  fund,'  a  gift  presented 
by  George  W.  Childs  and  A.  J\  Drexel,  to  the  printers'  thirty- 
fourth  annual  convention,  at  Pittsburgh,  Penn.,  1886,  and  a 
few  other  contributions,  totaling  $6,000 — all  costs  of  buildings, 
furnishings,  equipment  and  maintenance — over  $2,000,000 — 
has  been  paid  by  the  members  of  the  International  Typograph- 
ical Union,  at  the  rate,  first,  of  a  dime,  then  a  nickel,  and  now 
20  cents  a  month — 


'  'MID  PLEASURES  AND  PALACES' 

"Those  tents  and  the  pavilion,"  the  Ancient  Knight  of  the 
composing-stick  explained,  pointing  with  his  cane,  "are  for 
the  tuberculars,  50  per  cent  of  whom  recover.  That  building 
is  the  hospital— it  cost  $22,000.  The  main  structure— it's  200 
feet  long — cost,  including  two  additions  and  the  library,  over 
$150,000.  On  the  other  side  is  the  superintendent's  six-room 

34 


cottage.  The  building  with  the  stack  is  the  laundry  and  heat- 
ing plant  combined;  the  other  is  the  barn,  which  can  house 
three  teams  and  sixty  cows.  The  Home's  thorobred  Hblsteins 
are  valued  at  $12,000 — one  of  the  finest  herds  in  the  state! 

"A  sick  member  doesn't  have  to  wait  a  year  to  'break  in,' 
for  there's  no  mile  of  red  tape — and  no  graft — such  as  similar 
institutions  are  damned  with,  owing  to  politics !  The  care  we 
receive  here  is  not  excelled  and  yet  the  cost  to  the  Home — 
which  is  free  to  members,  in  fact  we  even  get  a  weekly  cash 
allowance — is  about  $65.00  monthly,  to  board,  room  and  feed 
each  member.  This  includes  all  expenses,  such  as  medical, 
taxes,  insurance,  wages  to  employes  and  improvements. 

"  It  is  not  charity  in  any  sense,"  concluded  the  grizzled 
'"Typo,"  "for  the  Home  belongs  to  the  Union  and  is  managed 
by  a  superintendent — a  brother  unionist. — under  the  direction 
of  a  board  of  trustees,  composed  of  union  brothers — for  the 
benefit  of  their  brother  unionists — and  not  to  make  money — " 

'GIVE  ME  (FACTS)  DEARER  THAN  ALL' 

"When  did  you  printers  organize?"  cut  in  Bob. 

"Well,  back  in  1795,"  ruminated  the  Old  Timer,  "the  New 
York  City  Typographical  Society  forced  the  bosses  to  raise 
wages  to  one  dollar  a  day.  Soon  after  it  disbanded.  Then  the 
Franklin  Typographical  Society  of  Journeymen  Printers,  or- 
ganized in  Xew  York  City,  1799.  formulated  the  first  com- 
plete wage-scale,  and  went  on  the  first  organized  strike  to 
enforce  demands  of  25  cents  per  1,000  ems,  $7  a  week,  in  book 
and  job  shops,  and  $8  a  week  on  newspapers. 

"The  'Franklin'  ceased  existence  in  1804,  but  the  conditions 
they  got  continued  until  September,  1809,  when  Samuel  Wood- 
worth,  author  of  The  Old  Oaken  Bucket,  and  several  others, 
organized  the  Xew  York  Typographical  Society  and  pre- 
sented a  new  wage-scale. 

"The  Philadelphia  Typographical  Society — whose  consti- 
tution, adopted  Nov.  6,  1802,  is  the  oldest  labor  document  of 
its  kind  in  the  United  States — began  expelling  members  in 
1806  who  worked  below  the  scale,  and  assessed  a  one  dollar 
fine  on  members  informing  a  non-member  of  a  job,  and  in 
1808  compiled  a  'rat  list,' 

"During  1832,  in  Philadelphia,  occurred  the  first  discus- 
sion over  women  printers,  and  in  January,  1835,  the  Wash- 
ington. D.  C..  printers,  hearing  that  girls  were  scabbing  on  a 
Philadelphia  newspaper,  circularized  the  printers  of  Boston, 
Baltimore.  New  York,  and  Philadelphia  as  to  what  action  they 
'proposed  to  take  to  prevent  the  further  progress  of  the  evil.' 

35 


This  question  was  not  settled  until  a  union  of  women  printers 
seeking  admission  to  the  International  in  1870,  were  admitted 
at  the  1872  convention  to  full  membership,  at  same  rate  of 
pay  as  men.  But  I'm  getting  ahead  of  my  story,"  the  Gaffer 
Printer  averred  .  .  . 

"The  first  general  convention  of  U.  S.  Printers  was  a  five- 
day  session,  November,  1836,  in  Washington,  D.  C.,  of  the 
National  Typographical  Society,  to  which  delegates  were  sent 
from  Philadelphia.  Baltimore,  Harrisburg,  New  York  and 
Washington.  New  Orleans  was  represented  by  proxy.  They 
were  a  class-conscious  bunch,  for  the  convention  unseated  Phil- 
adelphia's delegate,  when  it  was  shown  he  had  scabbed  for 
Duff  Green — a  notorious  anti-unionist.  His  union  was  igno- 
rant of  this,  for,  on  returnig,  they  revoked  his  card. 

"The  collapse  of  this  society  in  1840  brought  renewed  effort, 
and  in  September,  1850,  New  York  City,  joined  by  Boston  and 
Philadelphia  printers,  called  a  National  Convention  of  Jour- 
neymen Printers  to  meet  in  New  York,  December  2,  1850.  Del- 
egates were  present  from  Louisville,  Philadelphia,  Trenton, 
N.  J.,  Baltimore,  New  York  and  Albany;  letters  wrere  received 
from  San  Francisco,  St.  Louis,  Cincinnati,  Washington,  D.  C., 
and  Boston. 

"This  convention  was  the  most  important  of  all  previous 
conventions,  for  it  took  definite  stand  against  child  labor;  it 
urged  that  printers  in  every  town  should  form  a  union  and  that 
after  February  1,  1851,  no  printer  should  be  allowed  to  work 
under  jurisdiction  of  another  union,  when  coming  from  an 
organized  town,  without  a  card. 

"It  recommended  affiliation  of  all  printers'  unions  into  a 
general  organization,  on  the  basis  of  a  national  executive  com- 
mittee of  three  members  for  each  state,  and  in  Cincinnati, 
May  6,  1852,  journeymen  printers  from  Boston,  Albany,  New 
York,  Baltimore,  Pittsburg,  and  Cincinnati,  in  third  national 
convention,  formed  The  National  Typographical  Union — the 
oldest  'living'  union  in  the  U.  S.  .  .  . 

"It  was  first  proposed  to  establish  a  Printers'  Home  at 
New  Orleans  convention,  May,  1857.  Receiving  no  considera- 
tion, it  was  dropped  and  in  1860  was  discussed  and  again 
dropped. 

"In  1869,  at  Albany,  June  11,  the  seventeenth  convention 
changed  the  name  to  International  Typographical  Union.  The 
very  next  year,  the  argument  for  a  Home  was  renewed,  but 
delegates  declared  it  'impractical.'  Seven  years  later,  they 
repeated  the  assertion,  but  in  1882  a  committee  was  appointed 
to  devise  \v;iy>  and  means  to  establish  a  Home  for  printers, 
similar  to  the  National  Soldiers'  Homes.  Nothing  came  of 

36 


this,  and  it  is  doubtful  if  anything  ever  would  except  for  that 
donation — " 

"Does  everybody  around  a  print-shop  belong  to  the  Print- 
ers' Union  ?"  quizzed  Bob. 

"For  101  years,  before  'jurisdiction'  came  to  curse  and  dis- 
rupt unity,"  carped  he  of  the  "rule  and  stick,"  "printers' 
unions  included  compositors,  pressmen,  bookbinders  and  later 
linotypers,  photo-engravers,  electroplaters  and  stereotypers, 
but  in  1896,  that  joker  jurisdiction  claimed  the  pressmen  and 
bookbinders;  and  then  in  1900 — at  the  Golden  Jubilee  Con- 
vention, Cincinnati — jurisdiction  was  relinquished,  over  elec- 
trotypers  and  stereotypers;  and  in  1904  over  the  photo-en- 
gravers. 

"It's  a  wonder  the  linotype  operators  haven't  'felt  their 
oats' — they're  the  'high-brows'  now,  for  they  'must  know  the 
same  things'  as  the  hand  compositor,  and  'must  think  far  more 
rapidly.' 

"We  never  fought  the  typesetting  machine,  but  demanded  in 
1888  jurisdiction  over  it,  when  there  were  only  a  100  of  'em  in 
the  U.  S.  and  Canada  and  in  1904  had  it  to  the  tune  of  94^ 
per  cent.  When  more  automatic  machinery  comes,  there'll  be 
more  demands  for  jurisdiction — 

THE  FIRST  IN  THE  WEST 

"The  boys  are  leaving  the  benches,  I'll  have  to  go,  it's  time 
to  eat,  but  say,  don't  forget  to  make  '49'  in  Denver.  Its  the 
oldest  printers'  local  in  the  West !  Charles  S.  Semper,  from 
Xew  Orleans,  organized  it  in  1860 !  Then  Denver  printers  had 
to  keep  a  "flintlock'  handy,  for  protection  from  the  lawless 
faction.  .  .  .  They  still  think  that  way,  for  during  the  Colo- 
rado Coal  War.  they  voted  $500.00  to  striking  coal  miners, 
with  a  proviso  'to  buy  guns  and  bullets  and  protect  yourselves 
and  families'  from  Rockerfeller's  cut-throats.  .  .  ." 

After  noon  meal,  another  anto-tramp  having  pitched  camp, 
U'lly-aked  to  Bob  and  all  others  in  hearing: 

"Whaddye  vu  kno' — six  bucks  to  drive  your  own  car  to  the 
top  of  Pike's  Peak!  I  allus  thot  'th'  Peak  belonged  to  th'  Na- 
tion, like  all  the  other  mountains — nothin'  doin' — I  don't  keer 
if  it  is  th'  highest  mountain  in  the  world — climbed  by  auto! 
Anyhow  I've  been  over  Mt.  Washburn  in  Yellowstone,  it's  the 
second  highest  mountain  climbed  by  gas-wagons — and  it  don't 
cost  nothin'  either " 

"Have  you  fellows  ever  read  anything  about  Single  Tax?" 

37 


amiably  asked  an  auto  tourisf,  with  a  professional  appearance, 
"Here's  some  papers " 

"What  th'  hell  is  that  ?"  the  Belly-aker  rudely  cut  him  short. 

"  'The  equal  right  of  all  men  to  the  use  of  land !'  The  first 
comer  at  a  feast  has  no  right  to  force  all  others  to  make  cer- 
tain terms  with  him,  before  they  can  eat !  The  first  man  in  a 
theater,  does  not  acquire  by  his  priority,  the  right  to  shut  the 
door  and  have  the  performance  go  on  for  him  alone !  The  first 
passenger  in  a  coach,  does  not  obtain  the  right  to  scatter  his 
baggage  over  all  the  seats  and  compel  all  others  to  stand ! 

"We  are  guests — here  today  and  dead  tomorrow — lookers- 
on,  sharers  in  a  continuous  entertainment,  where  there  is  room 
for  all;  visitors  on  this  grain  of  sand,  whirling  thru  space — 
our  right  to  possess  cannot  be  exclusive;  it  should  be  bounded 
by  the  right  of  other  visitors. 

"As  the  traveller,  may  spread  himself  and  baggage  over 
many  seats,  until  others  come  in,  so  may  a  settler  take  and  use 
as  much  land  as  he  chooses,  until  it  is  needed  by  others — a  fact 
which  is  shown  by  the  land  acquiring  a  value — when  his  right 
must  be  curtailed  by  the  equal  right  of  others,  and  priority  has 
no  claim,  for  by  priority,  one  man  could  acquire  and  transmit 
to  who  he  pleases,  not  merely  the  exclusive  right  to  160  acres, 
but  to  a  whole  township,  state,  even  an  entire  continent." 

"That's  right,"  conceded  Mr.  Belly-aker,  "but  how  to  get 
land,  from  land  shark's  th'  question! 

"Henry  George,"  the  Single  Taxer  resumed,  "suggests  'abol- 
ishing all  private  titles,  declaring  all  land  public  property,  and 
renting  it  out  to  the  highest  bidder,  in  lots  to  suit,  under  such 
.conditions  as  would  sacredly  guard  the  private  right  to  im- 
provements!' 

"This  simple  remedy  will  raise  wages,  increase  the  earnings 
of  capital,  extirpate  pauperism,  abolish  poverty,  give  remuner- 
ative employment  to  wrhoever  wishes  it,  afford  free  scope  to 
human  powers,  lessen  crime,  elevate  morals,  taste  and  intelli- 
gence, purify  government  and  carry  civilization,  to  }7et  nobler 
heights  and  abolish  all  taxation,  save  that  upon  land '  " 

"That's  great,  but  it  can't  be  done"  announced  Mr.  Belly- 
aker,  sauntering  away. 

"Have  you  ever  seen  a  powerful  bull,"  the  Single  Taxer 
addressed  Bob,  "staked  in  a  field,  wind  himself  up  to  his  stake 
and  then  bellow  at  the  grass,  a  few  feet  away — but  won't 
change  his  direction  so  he  can  get  it?  Well,  the  working  class 
is  just  like  that  bull — they  are  even  worse.  One  can  drive  the 
bull  in  the  right  direction  and  unwind  the  rope!  'But  who  can 
drive  men  into  freedom?'  Dr.  Farr  is  my  name,  if  you  go  thru 
Milton  vale,  Kansas,  hunt  me  up.  Say,  here's  the  morning  paper, 

38 


big  story  about  a  dog  wedding,  which  is  costing  $15,000.  Guess 
'The  Springs'  get  all  the  looney  ones.      .      .      ." 

"ENTERTAIN  STRANGERS " 


At  Palmer  Lake,  a  few  miles  from  Colorado  Springs,  round- 
ing a  short  curve,  the  brakes  were  slammed  on.  to  avoid  run- 
ning down  an  old  man,  hobbling  along  with  a  stick. 

He  readily  accepted  Bob's  invitation,  "pile  on  and  ,ride,"  re*- 
marking: 

'•You  are  the  first  in  a  week  to  offer  me  a  ride,  yet  many 
drive  by,  with  empty  cars." 

When  noon  stop  was  made,  he  reluctantly  admitted : 

"The  first  food  I've  had  in  three  days,  was  given  me  this 
morning  by  children,  who  found  me  asleep  in  the  school- 
house "" 

After  hot  coffee,  sardine  sandwiches  and  fruit,  Bob  passed 
tobacco  to  the  old  tramp,  who  refused. 

—SOME  HAVE  ENTERTAINED  ANGELS." 

"Thanks,  never  used  it  in  my  life— neither  liquor.  Non-use 
caused  me  much  suffering  in  the  army  as  I  was  the  butt  of  all 
my  mess-mates'  jokes,  this  I  could  stand;  but  rotten  food  and 
officer's  curses,  forced  me  to  desert — I'd  given  up  a  career; 
ran  away  from  college;  renounced  the  Quaker  faith;  violated 
God's  commandment — 'Thou  shalt  not  kill' — all  this  I  did  to 
help  'Save  the  Union' — that  was  the  slogan " 

"Thot  it  was  to  'free  the  Negroes."  Bob  commented. 

"Many  think  the  same,"  the  Old  Soldier  replied:  "but  the 
tales,  that  the  Republican  Party  was  organized  and  the  Civil 
War  waged,  to  abolish  slavery,  were  invented  when  the  war 
was  almost  over,  to  glorify  that  party  and  the  class  it  repre- 
sented. 

"This  one  can  verify  by  the  Greatest  Republican  that 
ever  lived,  the  Supreme  American — Lincoln — who  said  in  de- 
bate with  Douglas:  'We  have  no  right  at  all  to  disturb  it 
(slavery)  in  the  states  where  it  exists  and  we  profess  that  we 
have  no  more  inclination  to  disturb  it,  than  we  have  the  right 
to  do  it,'  And  J.  Schouler,  in  his  History  of  the  United  States, 
Volume  5  page  507  shows,  that  'the  North  and  the  Republican 
Party,  were  more  desirous  of  maintaining  the  Union  and  so 
indifferent  to  the  slavery  question,  that  after  the  election  of 
Lincoln,  both  houses  of  Congress,  passed  a  provision  for  a 
constitutional  amendment  and  sent  it  to  the  states  for  ratifica- 

'  39 


tion,  providing  that  slavery  should  ~be  forever  guaranteed  and 
that  no  future  amendment  to  the  Constitution  should  ever  be 
submitted  authorizing  Congress  to  interfere  with  slavery  in 
the  states  where  it  was  then  located.' 

''Early  in  the  war,  President  Lincoln,  checked  all  the 
zealous  efforts  of  those  to  make  the  war  of  'saving  the  Union,' 
a  war  upon  slavery  and  he  wrote,  answering  Horace  Greeley's 
The  Prayer  of  20-mittion  People,  'My  paramount  object  is  to 
save  the  Union  and  not  either  to  save  or  destroy  slavery ' 

''What  the  devil  started  the  Civil  War.  then,"  irritably  de- 
manded Bob. 

"SAVING  THE  UNION" 

"To  'save  the  Union'  for,  between  the  election  of  Lincoln 
in  Nov.  1860  and  his  inauguration,  Mar.  4,  1861,  seven  of  the 
slave  holding  states  seceded,  withdrawing  their  representatives 
from  Congress,  and  formed  a  Confederacy  and  to  win  the  sup- 
port of  France  and  England  to  their  cause,  the  Confederate 
Congress,  considered  proposals  to  abolish  slavery " 

"Well,  what  the  devil  caused  the  South  to  Secede,"  Bob 
interrupted,  thoroly  peeved  at  having  his  ideals  so  rudely 
smashed. 

"Why,  it  had  lost  control  of  the  National  Government  and 
had  no  need  of  the  North,  whose  soil  and  climate,  prevented 
expansion  in  that  direction.  The  North  had  a  strong  interest 
in  maintaining  the  Union,  for  capitalism  knows  neither  limits 
of  soil  nor  climate.  And  then  too,  the  South  was  largely  a 
colony  of  the  North,  for  in  1860,  Southern  planters  and  mer- 
chants, owed  Northern  capitalists,  an  estimated  400-m'illion 
dollars.  The  Confederate  Congress  authorized  payment  of 
these  debts  to  it,  instead  of  Northern  creditors. 

"You  can  find  the  references  to  prove  this,  in  Simons,  Social 
Forces  in  American  History,  I  borrowed  it  while  in  the  hos- 
pital, a  few  months  ago  and  it  recalls  my  last  college  days, 
when  I  won  two  debates,  'Saving  the  Union'  and  'Abolishing 
Slavery " 

"Hey,  young  fellow,  have  you  any  spare  fan  belts,"  yelled 
a  chap  at  the  wheel  of  a  Case,  whose  hood  was  smoking,  "just 
broke  mine  and  this  old  boat  is  too  hot  to  go  any  further— 

From  spare  leather  a  fan  belt  was  made  and  then  the 
driver — Dr.  Pullen — handed  Bob  $1.50  with  an  invitation  to 
visit  his  ranch. 

A  few  miles  from  Denver,  the  Old  Soldier,  threw  his  stick 
in  the  road  to  stop  Bob,  who  volunteered  to  back  up  and  get 

it 

40 


"Please  drive  on."  he  beseeched.  "the  police  will  vag  me, 
I  must  sneak  thru  at  night.  Good  bve.  God  bless  you  and 
thanks  for  the  lift.  .  ." 

In  Denver  Frank  and  Bob  were  told,  that  another  Agitator 
was  in  town,  showing  "The  Mooney  Frame-up  Films." 

Bob  introduced  himself  to  Greene,  in  charge  and  offered  his 
co-operation,  which  was  sneeringly  turned  down,  as  he  bawled 
Bob  out  for  coming  to  town,  "to  spoil  his  show." 
•   "If  I  was  well  enough  and  strong  enough,  I'd  run  you  out 
of  town, "  snarled  Friedkin,  one  of  Greene's  assistants. 

"Hunt  up  a  proxy."  defied  Bob,  "for  I'm  going  to  stay  here 
a  whole  month  and  drive  my  car  in  the  Labor  Day  Parade !" 

"UNION  MEN,  SHALL  MOONEY  HANG?" 

— this  sign,  in  letters  a  foot-high,  on  both  sides  of  the  car. 
fetched  many  bursts  of  applause,  in  the  Denver  Labor  Day 
Parade,  tho  Bob's  efforts,  in  behalf  of  the  Mooney  Case  vic- 
tims, met  with  much  opposition  from  unionists:  The  Central 
Body,  after  two  hours  of  insinuations  and  veiled  accusations 
from  blunter  brothers,  that  brot  fire-tipped  words  from  sup- 
porters— voted  down  the  Mooney  agitator's  request,  for  a  cre- 
dential. 

Thru  a  misunderstanding,  the  Denver  Molders'  "guard"  ad- 
mitted Bob.  who  walked  toward  the  chair 

One  of  the  local's  officials  rushed  at  Bob  repeating  *'Yu 

can't  talk  about  that  G D anARCHist  in  here."  Several 

molders  surrounded  both — and  Bob  was  escorted  from  the  hall. 

The  sincere  greeting  of  Mrs.  Lawsori  and  family  to  Frank 
and  Bob,  was  a  cherished  memory,  as  they  left  Denver  for  Oak 
Creek,  where  John  R.  Lawson  was  digging  coal. 

"A  STORM  OF  BULLETS" 

At  Frederick,  a  coal  camp  near  Denver.  Mayor  Cassidy, 
president  of  the  miners'  union  and  manager  of  the  only  movie 
theater  in  town,  informed  Bob  the  miners  had  met  the  night 
before,  but  suggested  he  give  a  15-minute  talk  at  the  close  of 
the  show. 

Cassidy  told  Bob  that  he  had  laid  in  jail  6  months,  charged 
with  murder  of  a  gunman  who  he  shot  in  self -defense,  while 
he  was  town  marshal,  during  the  Colorado  Coal  War. 

Cassidy.  elected  by  the  miners  to  maintain  law  and  order, 
arrested  every  company  gunman  who  ventured  into  town  and 

41 


if  search  revealed  weapons,  they  were  dealt  with  according  to 
law. 

One  of  the  toughest  gunners  of  the  company,  bragged  re- 
peatedly, "I'll  get  that  damn  marshal  yet." 

On  station  platform,  he  made  his  attack,  the  first  shot  from 
his  automatic,  crushed  Cassidy's  knee,  who  fell  on  his  gun,  but 
rolling  over,  midst  a  storm  of  bullets  from  the  Coal  Owner's 
hired  killer,  pulled  his  gun,  rested  his  elbow  on  the  station  plat- 
form— the  gunman  dropped  with  a  bullet  thru  his  heart, 
as  several  of  his  fellows  rounded  the  corner  of  the  building, 
with  drawn  guns — at  this  moment,  Thompson,  under-marshal, 
crashed  thru  a  window  of  the  station,  carrying  sash  and  glass, 
a  gun  in  each  hand,  yelling  over  his  shoulder,  "come  on  boys, 
they've  got  the  marshal,  let's  get  every  damn  one  of  'em." 

"They'd  sure  got  us  both,"  reminised  Cassidy,  "if  Thompson 
hadn't  yelled  into  the  empty  room  from  which  he  jumped — 
you  say  you're  goin'  to  Oak  Creek?  Hunt  Thompson  up,  he's 
there  now — give  him  my  regards.  .  .  ." 

The  one  other  Mooney  talk,  in  the  200-mile  drive  back  over 
the  Continental  Divide  to  Oak  Creek,  was  given  one  bitterly 
cold  night,  on  the  street  at  Silver  Plume,  to  a  motely,  unsym- 
pathetic gathering  of  non-union  gold  and  silver  miners. 

The  Autumn  colored  foliage  at  the  timber-line,  was  a  relief 
from  the  semi-desert  barrenness  of  the  sand-flats,  whose  heat 
caused  much  tire  trouble,  before  Berthoud  and  Rabbits  Ear 
Passes  were  reached  and  the  welcome  26-mile  slide  began,  into 
Steamboat  Springs,  where  a  blow-out  forced  parking  on  the 
edge  of  town  and  compelled  Bob  to  trudge  in,  to  spend  10  of 
their  total  capital  of  12  cents  for  a  loaf  of  bread. 

Crossing  a  bridge,  in  the  village  limits  of  Oak  Creek,  Bob 
spied  two  coal  miners,  hiking  along  the  railroad,  he  grabbed  his 
brief-case  and  rushed  toward  them. 

AT  HOME— IN  A  "RAG  HOUSE" 

"Here's  20  cents  Frank,  both  bought  a  book — and  one  of 
them  is  Thompson — friend  of  Cassidy,  at  Frederick — he's 
president  of  his  local  here;  said  he'd  be  back  this  way  in  an 
hour.  Suppose  you  hike  over  and  buy  a  can  of  sardines  and 
some  bread — we'll  lunch  while  we  wait  for  him.  .  .  ." 

"I  Icy!    pardiici-;'   interrupted   Thompson   returning,   "you 

folks  take  possession  of  my  rag  house — that's  it,"  pointing  to 

;i  tent  on  a  hill.    My  Mi-<us  and  girls  are  on  a  visit.    All  the 

IK-  lic-itatcil.  -I  want  is.  that  your  wife  make  some  vie 

i  7        «•  *J  I  r 

and  cake. 

42 


-HANG-UPS  and  FRAME-UPS" 

In  Clemen's  store  next  morning,  Bob  met  Martin  Steinhart, 
who  heartily  shook  hands,  saying :  "Lawson  and  I  searched  this 
town  from  end  to  end  for  you  last  night.  He  received  a  mes- 
sage from  Denver,  after  you  'phoned  him  and  hiked  in,  so  he 
could  leave  on  this  morning's  train.  He  was  sorry  to  leave  with- 
out seeing  }TOU,  for  his  wife  wrote  him  you  wanted  the  story 
of  his  frame-up " 

"Gee,  Steinhart  can  give  you  a  story  of  His  Own  Hang-up 
which  is  a  damn  sight  more  thrilling  than  Lawson's,"  declared 
Clemens. 

"Yep,  had  a  close  call,"  pondered  Steinhart,  ';a  mob  of 
business  men  had  me  hanging  by  my  neck  from  the  cross-arm 
of  a  'phone  post,  but  a  Federal  officer,  a  gun  in  each  hand, 
made  'em  cut  me  down 

"Martin  is  a  member  Western  Federation  of  Miners,"  ex- 
plained Clemens,"  and  can  tell  you  about  the  Frame-up  of 
Mover,  Haywood  and  Pettibone  and  if  you  want  documentary 
proof,  I  have  Langdon's  600-page  book,  The  Industrial  Wars 
of  Colorado " 

"Their  Frame-up  was  worse  than  your  'Frisco  Frame-up," 
was  Steinhart  opening.  "The  plot  was  hatched  by  McParland, 
backed  by  Mine  Owners'  and  consumated  in  the  office  of  Gov. 
Gooding,  of  Idaho,  in  a  conference  in  which  such  men  as  W.  E. 
Borah  and  James  H.  Hawley,  attorneys  in  Boise,  were  pres- 
ent. Hawley  and  J.  C.  Mills  took  the  requisition  to  Gov.  Mc- 
Donald. (Peabody's  successor),  of  Colorado,  who,  late  Satur- 
day, signed  away  the  liberty  of  these  laborites,  turning  them 
over  to  an  armed  mob  of  kidnappers — their  known  enemies! 
Later,  this  duck  refused  to  extradite  a  Negro  to  Mississippi, 
unless  that  State's  officials  would  guarantee  a  fair  trial  and 
protect  him  from  an  'armed  mob ' 

"Midnight,  Saturday,  Feb.  17,  1906,  Moyer,  Haywood  and 
Pettibone  were  thrown  into  jail,  denied  permission  to  notify 
friends  or  council  and  six  hours  later,  were  on  a  special  train, 
heavily  guarded,  hurling  toward  Idaho,  with  right  of  way 
over  everything  on  the  road ! 

"Arrival  at  Boise,  the  kidnapped  miners'  officials  were 
stuck  in  the  penitentiary,  where  only  convicted  criminals,  ac- 
cording to  law  are  confined. 

"Two  days  after  Steunenberg  was  killed,  in  Caldwell, 
(Idaho)  Harry  Orchard  was  arrested  in  a  Hotel  and  confessed, 
claiming  he  had  been  hired  by  the  Western  Federation  of 
Miners  to  commit  the  crime. 

"Arresting  officers  found   pieces  of  dynamite,   sulphuric 

43 


acid  and  a  few  inches  of  string,  identical  to  that  attached  to 
the  bomb,  which  was  arranged  to  explode  as  the  ex-Governor 
opened  his  gate,  evening  Dec.  30,  1905.  Orchard  made  no 
attempt  to  leave  town  or  destroy  the  incriminating  evidence  in 
his  room.  Hotel  employes  said,  'he  just  hung  around'  as  tho 
waiting  for  certain  arrests — probably  part  of  the  Pinkerton 
Frame-up. 

—The  alleged  reason  for  killing  of  Steunenberg  by  the 
A\V:-tern  Federation  of  Miners  was,  that  thru  his  instrumen- 
tality, the  Mine  Owners  had  disrupted  the  Miners'  Union,  dur- 
ing the  Coeur  d'  Alene  (Idaho)  strike  in  1899.  This  he  had 
done  by  requisitioning  National  troops.  Gen.  Merrian,  in  com- 
mand of  Negro  soldiers,  took  charge  of  the  district  and  in- 
augurated a  reign  of  terror,  tortures  and  persecutions  that 
equaled  anything  the  press  ever  accused  the  Germans  of,  in 
Belgium.  Hard-fisted,  toil-bent  miners,  were  forced  to  look 
on,  while  their  wives  and  daughters,  were  raped  by  Negro  sol- 
diers, in  the. uniform  of  the  United  States,  who' were  supposed 
to  maintain  law  and  order. 

•'The  Negro  troops  arrested  and  to  hold  the  many  miner 
prisoners,  a  stockade,  or  bullpen — the  first  in  the  West — was 
built,  where  food  was  flung  at  the  prisoners,  as  tho  they  were 
hogs—. 

"Labor  stood  loyally  by  the  men — damn  sight  more  than 
they  are  with  the  Mooney  Case  victims  right  now — but  when 
McParland  gave  the  press  a  confession  from  Steve  Adams, 
purporting  to  back  up  Orchard,  some  of  the  weak-headed 
brothers  began  smirking,  'it's  all  off.'  While  thinkers  hoped, 
McParland  would  have  a  confession  a  day,  for  the  press ;  real- 
izing.' 'when  first  we  practice  to  deceive,  what  a  tangled  web 
we  weave!' 

"So  when  Steve  Adams'  -wife  smugled  a  signed  statement 
'from  her  husband,  to  the  Defense  Attornej's,  which  said  that, 
'he  had  signed  the  confession  because  Gov.  Gooding  (of  Idaho) 
had  threatened  to  hang  him.  if  he  didn't  corroborate  Or- 
chard's story  against  the -of  f  iciers  of  the  Western  Federation 
of  Miners.' 

"In  court  Adams  told  how  his  wife  and  two  children  had 
been  dragged  by  Theile — a  Pinkerton — off  their  ranch  in  Ore- 
gon to  the  female  ward  of  Idaho's  Pen  and  held  there  as  tho 
they  were  prisoners;  warden  opening  and  reading  Mrs.  Adams' 
mail.  Steve  told  how  Hawley  had  rushed  to  his  cell  after  De- 
fense Attorneys  had  taken  up  his  fight,  lying  that  the  prose- 
cution had  nothing  against  him  that  he  was  not  a  prisoner  and 
begged  him  to  sign  a  paper  discharging  his  attorneys, 
but  when  Steve  demanded  his  freedom,  Hawley  refused  and 

44 


after  he  left  the  deputy  warden  had  Steve  stripped,  searched 
and  locked  in  a  death  cell. 

"During  Ha}T  wood's  trial,  Hawley  told  the  jury,  that  the 
Western  Federation  of  Miners,  had  always  been  a  criminal 
organization  from  the  day  of  its  birth.  Then  Clarence  Darrow, 
chief  counsel  of  Haywood,  showed  that  Hawley  had  been  the 
one  who  suggested,  'you  have  poor,  weak  INDIVIDUAL  or- 
ganizations all  over;  you  have  one  in  Butte,  you  have  them  in 
Idaho,  you  have  them  in  Colorado;  there  is  nothing  on  earth, 
but  to  get  together  into  one  Great  Federation,  so  you  can 
FIGHT  TOGETHER.'  This  Hawley  had  told  the  metal 
miners,  in  the  Ada  County  jail  at  Boise  'way  back  in  1893. 

"Haywood  and  others,  had  been  arrested  in  1892,  during 
first  strike  trouble  in  the  Coeur  d'  Alenes,  where  conditions 
above  and  under-ground,  beggar  description;  Company-owned 
huts,  store,  doctor,  and  if  they  did  not  get  all  the  miners' 
money,  thru  robbery  prices,  they  paid  'em  the  balance  in 
script.' 

"It  was  in  the  Ada  County  jail  that  they  first  discussed 
formation  of  the  Federation.  Hawley  'took  their  money;  he 
organized  them;  he  fought  their  battles;  he  was  their  first 
attorney.' 

"These  legal  lights  are  reckless  as  hell  with  the  truth !  It 
was  a  huge  joke  Senator  W.  E.  Borah  cracked,  when  he 
mouthed  for  the  prosecution,  that  it  was  forced  to  move  se- 
cretly, as  some  of  the  most  important  witnesses  had  disap- 
peared.' 

"Orchard,  this  most  important  witness  and  arch-murderer 
who  confessed  to  26  murders  and  other  crimes,  had  never  seen 
Moyer,  Haywood  and  Pettibone  in  his  life,  until  Scott — chief 
detective  for  the  Florence,  Cripple  Creek  Railroad — gave  him 
a  pass  and  money  to  go  to  Denver  in  order  to  get  next  to  the 
officers  of  the  Federation. 

"Give  a  calf  rope  and  watch  it  hang  itself,"  quoted 
Steinhart,  "and  that's  what  that  over-zealous  traitor.  McPar- 
land  and  the  entire  prosecution  did  and  joke  of  it  is,  Idaho 
taxpayers  are  the  goats,  who  footed  the  prosecution's  bill  of 
$200,000. 

"Gov.  Gooding,  who  made  his  brags,  'the  murder  of  Sten- 
nenberg,  would  be  avenged,  commuted  the  death  sentence  of 
Orchard,  proving  that  he  was  a  tool  of  the  Mine  Owners,  whose 
only  desire  was  to  disrupt  the  Federation,  by  hanging  the 
leaders  of  it. 

'•Haywood,  Secretary-Treasurer  of  the  Western  Federation 
of  Miners,  was  acquitted  July  28,  1907. 

"Then  in  a  few  days.  President  Mover  was  released  on 

45 


$25,000  bail,  but  Pettibone  was  denied  bail,  by  Judge  Fremont 
Wood,  even  -when  he  became  a  physical  wreck,  in  the  rotten, 
germ-laden,  prison  air.  The  prosecution  no  doubt  hoped  he'd 
die.  which  would  prevent  defense  showing  up  their  botchy 
work.  They  did  every  legal  thing  they  could  to  kill  him,  even 
put  him  in  the  Hospital,  to  stop  the  trial,  but  Pettibone  ran 
away  from  the  Hospital  and  returned  to  jail,  demanding  that 
he  be  locked  up,  that  he  was  well  enough  for  trial,  thus  thwart- 
ing the  prosecution. 

"Hawley  branded  Pettibone  as  paymaster  and  go-between 
of  the  Federation  and  accused  him  of  making  'Pettibone  dope' 
and  bombs,  which  caused  a  score  of  deaths,  but  he  had  no  proof. 

"Darrow  proved  to  the  jury,  Pettibone  had  never  carried 
a  card,  never  attended  a  local  union  meeting,  had  never  paid 
dues  to  the  Federation,  nor  had  he  anything  to  do  with  forming 
of  its  policy,  in  his  life.  That  while  at  one  time  he  was  presi- 
dent of  the  Gem  miners'  union,  it  was  before  the  Federation 
was  organized. 

"Since  1892  he  had  not  worked  in  the  mines,  he  dropped 
into  the  convention,  in  Denver,  to  meet  some  of  his  old  Gem 
(Idaho)  acquaintances,  who  welcomed  their  former  president 
and  made  him  an  honorary  member. 

"No  jury  of  honest  men,  could  have  found  a  dog  guilty,  on 
the  'silver  tongued'  lies,  glibly  told  by  high-priced  lawyer- 
politicians,  so  on  Jan.  4,  1908,  Pettibone  was  found — not  guilty. 

"The  braggard  McParland  was  shown  up — the  liar  and 
faded  away,  never  fear,  he'll  be  heard  from  again. 

THE  POLITICAL  BUNK 

"Of  'defeating  your  friends  and  electing  your  enemies'  goes 
merrily  on.  Workers'  votes  in  Idaho  keep  Borah  in  the  U.  S. 
Senate;  the  same  votes  will,  if  it  hasn't  already,  make  Gooding 
a  Senator,  and  long  ago  they  made  Hawley  Governor.  And 
'Big  Bill'  Haywood  is  now  Secretary-Treasurer  of  the  Indus- 
trial Workers  of  the  World—" 

"That's  the  organization,"  Clements  butted  in,  "One  for  All 
and  All  for  One !  There  can  be  no  peace  while  millions  starve 
and  the  few  have  all  the  good  things — 

"Yes  and  no,"  Steinhart  agreed,  "I'd  a  damn  sight  rather 
see  Big  Bill  and  his  followers,  inside  fighting,  than  outside 
knocking,  for  after  all,  Industrial  Unionism,  is  a  matter  of 
evolution  and  God.  man  or  capital  can't  stop  it " 

Silence — like  a  pall,  gripped  the  few  men  listening  to  Stein- 
hart,  as  the  door  admitted  a  dapper,  shifty-eyed,  fox-face  indi- 

46 


yidual,  who,  sizing  up  the  group,  bought  some  cigarettes, 
lighted  one  with  deliberation  and  departed. 

"That  skunk  hasn't  been  in  ray  store  since  they  raided  us 
during  the  last  strike — " 

"There's  a  new  agitator  in  town  and  he  took  a  good  look  at 
him  too,"  laconically  asserted  Steinhart.  "Well,  my  boy,"  he 
solemnly  added,  slapping  Bob's  back,  "I'll  be  your  body-guard 
while  you're  here," 

Considerable  financial  support  was  secured  for  the  De- 
fense, in  Oak  Creek  District,  the  most  enthusiastic  meeting  tho, 
was  with  the  miners  of  the  Hayden  Brothers  'Stag  Mine,' 
where  Lawson  had  worked.  Steinhart  accompanied  Bob  to  all 
meetings  and  his  linguistic  ability  was  a  great  aid. 

Bob  stripped  the  gears  in  the  deep  sand,  on  entering  Mt. 
Harris.  While  waiting  for  repairs,  he  worked  as  a  "bridge- 
monkey"  and  at  night  appealed  to  the  different  locals  in  be- 
half of  the  Frame-up  victims. 


ONE  HUNDRED  PER  CENT  "HUNKS" 

"We'll  canvas  the  camp  for  Mooney ;  the  boys  are  all  home 
— no  work  here  on  Sunday."  said  Mike  Fitch,  leader  of  the 
foreigners  in  Mt,  Harris,  and  we  'hunks'  forced  the  operators 
to  sign  an  agreement  with  the  union,  the  Americans  seemed  to 
be  satisfied,  we  were  not, 

"At  a  special  meeting,  two  days  was  given  the  Big  Boss  to 
sign  up, — many  insisted  two  hours  was  enough, — he  didn't 
sign,  so  we  all  went  on  strike  and  to  prevent  any  American 
from  scabbing — tho  they  carried  a  union  card — a  committee, 
carrying  heavy  walking  sticks,  hung  around  the  tipple.  It  was 
a  complete  tie-up  and  the  Boss  had  to  sign." 

To  get  balance  of  money  for  parts.  Bob  hiked  7  miles  to 
Hayden  Fair,  where  he  made  $8  worth  of  fotos.  .  .  . 

Over  300  miles  of  prairie,  passing  many  bands  of  sheep, 
constantly  haunted  by  blow-puts,  Bob  piloted  the  "old  boat" 
thru  Craig  to  Baggs,  Wyoming  and  on  to  Wamsutter,  where 
lie  "wrecked"  an  old  automobile — for  junk  and  earned  $7. 

Owing  to  slow  leak  in  water  bags,  Frank  and  Bob  were  24 
hours  without  water,  on  their  drive  into  Rock  Springs,  where 
after  a  meager  supper  of  the  last  food  they  had,  Bob  was  un- 
able to  locate  a  union  meeting. 


47 


"NEVER  SAY  DIE" 

"Snow !  No  wonder  we're  cold,"  shivered  Bob,  dropping  the 
side-curtain. 

"Cheer  up,  Frank,  I'll  peddle  the  bumper  Jack  Lewis  gave 
me  at  Mt.  Harris,"  Bob  confidently  asserted,  fingering  a  lone- 
some "jitney." 

Later,  Hill,  manager  of  the  Co-operative  store,  looked  the 
bumper  over  and  said :  "I'll  take  it " 

"Thanks,  old  timer !"  Bob  gratefully  exclaimed.  "It's  yours 
at  your  price  and  I'll  trade  part  out  in  groceries." 

"E-i-g-h-t  dollars?"  incredulously  spelled  Frank. 

"Yes!"  panted  Bob,  dropping  bundles,  "and  $3"  of  gro- 
ceries besides  and  Hopkins,  a  director  in  the  store,  said  we 
could  camp  in  his  private  garage." 

"That's  great,"  exclaimed  Frank,  "any  shelter's  welcome." 

Bob  spoke  and  secured  donations  from  many  local  unions 
in  and  around  Rock  Springs  and  ended  his  stay,  with  an  illus- 
trated Mooney  Lecture  in  the  miners-owned  hall,  containing  a 
library  of  several  thousand  volumes. 

After  the  meeting  and  during  the  usual  hand-shaking,  Bob 
asked  if  anyone  could  give  him  names  of  active  unionists  in 
towns  ahead  .  .  . 

"Did  you  have  the  name  of  anyone  in  this  burg?"  a  serious 
voice  asked. 

"No,"  replied  Bob,  "we  came  overland,  from  the  North- 
western slope  field " 

"You  just  drop  in,  size  things  up  and  pick  your  men,  tell 
'em  what  you  are  doing,  and  why,"  guessed  the  serious  voice, 
which  Bob  located  as  belonging  to  a  man  who  "hunched"  good. 

"Well,  that's  the  way  to  do  it,  the  little  man  resumed,  "if 
John  Mitchell  had  sent  organizers  in  here,  on  the  rods,  this 
section  would  have  been  organized  long  ago.  But  no,  they 
were  all  gentlemen,  stopped  at  the  finest  hotel  and  sent  for  a 
brother  Thomas  J.  Williams,  whom  John  Mitchell  had  told 
them  was  a  union  coal  miner  and  who'd  be  glad  to  give  'em  a 
lift.  Well,  brother  Williams  gave  ?em  a  lift  all  right.  He 
helped  arrange  midnight  meetings,  to  which  he  secretly  invited 
miners  to  attend.  At  all  these  meetings  Superintendent  Black 
or  a  foreman  appeared  and  the  half-starved  miners  would 
hike  for  home. 

k'A  dozen  or  so,  carefully-planned  meetings  were  thus  stam- 
peded, to  the  utter  consternation,  confusion  and  bewilderment 
of  organizers,  who  declared  to  brother  Williams,  'they'd  never 
met  with  such  misfortune  before.' 

48 


"Brother  Williams,  highly  indignant,  told  the  Mitchell  lieu- 
tenants he  did  not  believe  it  was  the  'opportune  time'  to  or- 
ganize Rock  Springs,  etc.,  that  the  Union  Pacific  Coal  Com- 
pany must  have  a  stand-in  with  the  Devil. 

"President  Mitchell  conceived  the  idea  of  sending  in  six 
organizers,  who  spoke  different  languages  and  to  arrange  sev- 
eral meetings  the  same  night,  feeling  sure  that  he  could  thus 
defeat  the  company 

"But  again,  Mitchell  told  his  men  to  hunt  up  Brother  Wil- 
liams. After  fifty  attempts  to  hold  a  meeting,  the  organizers 
and  President  Mitchell  decided  Rock  Springs  inpregnable  and 
gave  up,  indignant  and  mystified 

"Brother  Williams  lost  his  morals,  took  to  drinking  and 
then  it  became  known  he  was  Pinkerton  Labor  Spy  No.  15 

"So,  young  fellow,  continue  to  size  'em  up  and  if  you  pick 
a  Pinkerton — it'll  be  your  own  fault.  .  .  ." 

"I  won't  hear  no  motion  for  a  donation  !  Our  International 
ain't  'endorsin'  this  fight,"  boomed  the  President  of  the  coal 
miners  at  Superior,  first  stop  leaving  Rock  Springs — 

"Push  the  hat,"  chorused  the  rank  and  file,  "Tom  Mooney's 
the  >on  of  a  coal  miner,  whose  father  was  shot  by  a  scab  in 
Indiana. 

The  hat  got  $10  and  the  same  amount  was  contributed 
by  Finn  Socialists.  Later  Brother  Cook  notified  that  the 
President,  evidently  read  the  Mine  Workers'  Journal,  Bob 
referred  him  to,  for  at  next  meeting,  he  made  a  motion  to 
donate  $50. 

"Rawlins  is  42  miles,"  answered  the  man  at  a  dust-covered 
pump,  as  he  handed  Bob  the  hose 

"That's  where  I'm  goin'  too,"  cut  in  a  lanky  genial  indi- 
vidual, "just  missed  my  train — if  you  let  me  ride  I'll  buy  the 

gas.        .      ." 

"Hunt  up  Seth,  Slater  or  Perriot,  they'll  help  arrange  a 
meeting,"  said  Pete  Larson — the  passenger — as  he  alighted. 

With  dimes  from  individual  book  sales  and  a  big  feed 
charged  to  Seth,  the  Mooney  Agitators  departed,  when  the 
efforts  of  Expressman  Seth  and  Bob,  to  arrange  a  meeting, 
proved  futile.  .  .  . 

Bumping  slowly  along,  its  broken  spring  splinted  with  a 
fence  post,  the  old  car  stopped  at  Melnor's — Secretary  of  the 
Hanna  Miners — as  light  flashed  from  the  many  windows  of 
the  hall  nearby. 

"The  Finnish  Socialists  meet  tonight,"  Melnor  answered 
Bob's  question.  49 


"Frank,  fish  out  my  clothes,"  commanded  Bob — 

"What !  You're  going  to  wash  and  dress  here  in  the  street?" 

incredulously  demanded  Frank. 

"Must — talk — to — Finns,"  came  between  splashes,  as  Bob 

began  to  drown  the  dust  on  his  face. 

Hanna,  an  unincorporated  town,  owned  by  the  Union  Pa- 
cific Kailroad,  who  mines  the  coal  to  fire  its  locomotives,  rents 
the  shacks,  the  miners  call  "home;"  maintains  the  school  and 
runs  the  store  on  such  exorbitant  prices  that  200  miners,  mostly 
Finns,  organized  a  co-operative  store  and  housed  it  in  a  de- 
serted roadhouse,  three  miles  from  town. 

Heikkinen,  the  manager,  formerly  editor  of  Tovera,  a  Fin- 
nish Daily,  at  Astoria,  Oregon,  told  Bob  that  tho  they  were 
forced  to  haul  from  the  depot  to  the  store  and  then  back  to 
make  deliveries,  that  they  were  making  money  for  the  stock- 
holders. 

Two  mornings  later,  after  a  successful  meeting,  Frank  and 
Bob  breakfasted  with  President  Slover  and  then  hurried  on, 
to  get  over  Sherman  Pass,  before  it  became  snow-bound. 

BEAN  SOUP  ON  SHEEMAN  PASS 

"I'm  all  in,"  breathlessly  gasped  Fra,nk,  after  a  2-mile  hike, 
with  a  white  cloth  pinned  on  her  back,  which,  slowly  driving, 
Bob  followed,  to  keep  on  the  road— 

"The  fear  of  running  you  down  in  this  damnable  darkness 
has  me  so  nervous,  I'm  all  in,  too,"  repeated  Bob  as  he  pulled 
out  of  the  road  and  began  struggling  in  the  terrific  gale  to 
spread  the  canvas. 

"Here,  drink  this  hot  soup,"  commanded  Bob.  And  Frank 
opened  startled  eyes  at  the  roaring  fire. 

"Twas  some  job  to  find  wood,  without  a  light — that's  a 
battery,  always  on  the  bum,  when  needed  most,"  grumbled 
Bob. 

When  day  dawned,  they  realized  camp  had  been  made  on 
Sherman  Pass — the  top  of  the  Rocky  Mountains! 

Breakfastless,  Frank  and  Bob  made  an  early  start  for 
Cheyenne,  where  after  eight  blow-outs,  they  arrived  and  parked 
near  Wyoming  Labor  Journal  building.  As  soon  as  arrange- 
ments for  meeting  had  been  completed,  they  had  supper — their 
first  hot  meal  that  day.  Buckley  and  Paulson  of  the  Journal, 
provided  hall  and  advertising  for  the  Mooney  illustrated  lec- 
ture and  were  equally  disappointed  with  an  audience  of  six. 

Unable  to  buy  gas,  Bob  appealed  to  his  union  brothers,  of 

50 


the  Teamsters  Local,  who  bought  a  quantity  of  Books,  at  a 
special  called  meeting. 

Bob  was  told,  to  avoid  snow,  he'd  better  swing  thru  Denver 
and  take  a  more  southern  route  East.  This  was  readily  agreed 
to,  with  hope  of  getting  Lawson's  story  yet. 

"Why  don't  you  'phone  Lawson  first?  Maybe — maybe 
they'll  invite  us  out  for  a  square  meal,"  ingenuously  suggested 
Frank. 

"Hash  foundry  for  us,  Lawson  don't  answer,"  dejectedly 
said  Bob,  returning. 

Bob  spent  two  hours  in  a  vain  attempt  to  soak  camera, 
loan  sharks  did  not  want  it".  Then  spending  their  last  30  cents 
in  a  cheap  restaurant,  they  drove  to  the  deserted  auto  park, 
where  the  naked  trees  cracked  in  the  howling  wind  and  the 
fallen  leaves  weird  rustle  between  flurries  of  snow,  caused 
them  to  realize  'winter's  here.  .'  ^ 

"Let's  eat  Frank.  Bonnell's  Jew  friend,  loaned  me  five  on 
the  camera.  Lawson  can  see  us  at  10  a.  m.  and  Hawkins,  his 
attorney,  at  11  a.  m.  .  .  . 

AMEEICAN  ATROCITIES 

"Oppressions  of  30  years,"  began  Lawson,  "temporarily 
ended  Sept.  23,  1913,  when  11,232  men  went  on  strike,  after 
Coal  Operators  refused  their  demands,  most  of  which  werer 
that  Mine  Operators  obey  the  Colorado  laws!  One  of  these 
provided  for  a  check  weighman,  this  had  been  a  law  for  ten 
years,  but  miners  were  still  being  robbed  of  from  700  to  1 ,400 
Ibs.  of  coal  on  every  car  they  mined ;  the  abolition  of  the  script 
system,  with  the  right  to  trade  anywhere ;  to  belong  to  a  union, 
and  two  pay-days  a  month — 

"Balwin-Felts  Murder  Agency,  saloon-keeper  and  gambler 
Maj.  Hamrock,  Lt,  ('Butcher')  K.  E.  Linderfelt  and  Adj. 
Gen.  Chase,  were  the  willing  and  paid  tools,  backed  by  the 
Rockefeller  millions,  sanctified  and  commanded  by  Gov.  Elias 
Ammons,  to  maintain  the  illegal  rule  of  the  Coal  Barons  and 
break  the  strike. 

"And  with  such  foul  means  as:  when  Adj.  Gen.  Chase, 
astride  his  war-horse  kicked  Sara  Slater,  a  16-year-old  school 
girl,  so  viciously  on  the  breast,  she'll  never  be  able  to  nurse 
a  baby.  The  press  and  pulpit  were  loud  in  their  praise  of  this 
brave  militiaman.  Sara  was  watching  militiamen,  desecrating 
a  $300  American  flag  and  sabering  women,  whom  Chase  had 
given  permission  to  march^  in  protest  at  the  imprisoning  of 

51 


'Mother'  Jones,  in  the  damp,  lousy,  rat-infested,  cellar-cell  of 
Walsemburg  jail — — 

"When  a  drunken  Negro  strike-breaker,  went  to  sleep  on  a 
railroad  track  and  was  killed  by  a  train,  the  Associated  Press 
dispatches  claimed,  'bloodhounds  tracked  the  murderer  to 
Forbes  Colony  of  striking  miners.' 

"Uniformed  fiends  destroyed  the  tent  colony,  throwing 
children  and  women  with  nursing  babes  out  to  perish  with  cold 

in  a  blinding  snowstorm 

"When  militiamen  at  Augillar,  grabbed  and  dragged  from 
their  own  yard  two  women,  one  to  become  a  mother  in  a  few 
hours,  to  jail,  and  put  them  thru  the  third  degree — not  a  rip- 
ple of  horror  passed  thru  the  craven  hearts  of  these  sancti- 
monious defenders  of  Law  and  Order — — 

"At  Segundo,  a  drunken  militiaman  seized  a  child  from 
its  mother,  forced  the  tot  with  other  children,  to  parade  the 
streets  for  two  hours,  jabbing  them  now  and  then  with  his 
bayonet.  If  an  ignorant  foreigner,  a  parent  of  one  of  these 
children  had  killed  this  brute — then  the  press  and  pulpit  would 

have  advocated  mob  action 

"Mrs.  Yanskinski,  leaving  four  small  children,  had  gone 
to  town.  Meanwhile  a  militiaman,  his  captain  too  drunk  to  get 
out  of  the  car,  drove  to  the  house,  entered,  shattered  the  fur- 
niture, tattered  the  clothing — found  $200  sewed  in  a  coat.  A 
punch  on  the  jaw  was  given  Mrs.  Yanskinski's  little  son,  when 
he  appealed  to  the  'soldier'  not  to  take  the  money,  then  kicked 
him  in  the  face  as  he  lay  sobbing  on  the  floor.  A  younger 
sister,  when  she  saw  the  blood  on  her  brother's  face,  began  cry- 
ing. She  too,  was  knocked  down — a  kick  fractured  her  nose 
so  seriously  she  was  unable  to  testify  before  the  Commission 

on  Industrial  Relations- 

"Of  course  all  these  outrages,"  explained  Lawson,  "were 
committed  with  the  end  in  view  of  enraging  the  miners,  to 
retaliate  and  give  Linderfelt's  command  a  chance  to  live  up  to 
its  slogan :  'We're  going  to  lick  the  miners,  or  wipe  'em  off  the 
earth.  There  won't  be-,a  God  damn  red-neck  (striking  miners 
of  21  nationalities)  left  when  we  get  thru,  we'll  clean  'em  all.' 
"At  8 :40  Monday  morning,  April  20,  1914,  'Gunmen  Melish' 
demanded  of  Louis  Tikas,  a  graduate  of  Athens  University 
and  spokesman  of  the  colony,  a  certain  striker,  Tikas  told  them 
to  get  a  warrant  and  a  sheriff. 

"When  three  bombs  exploded  at  9 :10,  after  militiamen  had 
trained  four  gattling-guns  on  the  Ludlpw  colony  from  the 
south,  Tikas  by  'phone,  arranged  a  meeting  with  Maj.  Ham- 
rock,  hoping  his  appeal,  in  behalf  of  the  300  women  and  chil- 

52 


dren,  would  arouse  the  manhood — vain  hope — of  this  dive- 
keeper,  to  call  off  the  impending  massacre. 

"After  A  fruitless  conference,  Tikas  started  back,  when 
Butcher  Linderfeldt — from  behind — with  a  blow  from  the 
stock  of  his  rifle,  crushed  Tikas'  head.  Another  cut-throat  mili- 
tiaman kicked  him  in  the  face  as  he  lay  dying.  Then  to  be 
doubly  sure,  a  volley  was  fired  into  his  back — an  explosive 
bullet  tore  out  his  belly.  In  this  spot  his  body  lay  for  two  days. 

"Godfrey  Irwin,  an  electrical  engineer,  on  the  way  to  Lud- 
low  station,  was  an  eye  witness  to  the  massacre  and  described 
in  detail,  the  murder  of  Tikas,  in  the  New  York  World,  May  5. 
1914.  Butcher  Linderfelt  then  admitted  his  crime,  but  claimed 
Tikas  was  shot  while  trying  to  make  his  escape. 

"After  the  brutal  assination  of  Tikas,  bullets  began  to  rain 
on  the  defenseless  women  and  children,  who  crawled  into  holes 
dug  in  the  ground,  under  their  beds,  where  many  smothered 
to  death,  when  militiamen  with  torch  and  oil,  set  fire  to  the 
tents. 

"A  shot  from  behind,  blew  out  the  face  of  James  Fyler, 
Secretary  of  the  Ludlow  miners,  who  had  acted  as  'phone 
operator,  giving  out  the  only  news.  When  his  body  was  found, 
$300  he  had  that  morning,  was  missing. 

"Scabs — 800  of  'em — caps  and  candles  on,  directly  out  of 
the  mines,  armed  with  Winchesters,  helped  in  the  killing.  At 
six  the  Colony  store  door  was  battered  in,  stock  stolen  and 
building  fired,  including  four  others. 

"Butcher  Linderfelt  asked  during  the  day  how  many  mi- 
litiamen were  killed,  replied:  "Four  killed,  three  injured — 
them  Greeks  are  damn  crack-shots.' 

"Another  gunman  boasted :  'There  were  four  men  in  there 
(a  tent)  orie  of  them  sneaked  out  to  get  some  ammunition  and 

I  got  him,  then  two  little  girls,  dressed  in  white,  came  out 

Some  one  asked,  'you  surely  didn't  shoot  at  the  little  girls?' 
'You're  God  damn  right  I  did,'  he  answered. 

"As  No.  2  Colorado  Southern  train  arrived  from  the  North, 
women  and  children  were  seen  to  run  out  of  the  glare  of  the 
fires  and  as  fast  as  they  came  were  shot  down — 

"Yells  of  fanatical  joy,  from  these  depraved,  blood-thirsty 
gunmen,  were  the  answers  to  the  appeals  of  mercy.  0 A,  please 
don't  kill  us,  oh  mamma  what  shall  we  do?"1 

"Fifty  women  of  the  Ludlow  tent  colony  were  pregnant, 
one  unfortunate  woman  giving  birth  to  her  baby  while  fleeing 
from  the  flames  and  bullets. 

"Mrs.  Jolly,  who  was  shot  in  the  arm,  near  her  Red  Cross 
insignia,  testified  that  on  the  following  day  after  the  massacre, 
she  saw  gunmen  looting  the  ruins,  gathering  bodies,  on  which 

53 


they  poured  oil  and  set  on  fire.  .  .  Fifty  persons  of  Lud- 
low  have  never  been  found.  Undoubtedly  they  were  the  vic- 
tims of  this  funeral  pyre,  which  destroyed  the  mute  testimony 
of  American  atrocities,  committed  by  Americans,  commanded 
by  Americans  and  all  paid  for  by  an  American  Sunday  school 
teacher. 

"Frequently  the  nations  press  drivels,  about  Rockefeller's 
charity,  but  Mrs.  Clara  C.  French,  delegated  by  the  Justice 
League  of  Denver,  to  make  a  month's  investigation  in  South- 
ern Colorado  coal  fields  (while  President  Wilson's  coal  com- 
mission, headed  by  Seth  Low,  spent  one  week  in  the  entire 
state)  reported  that,  the  commission  was  told  by  President 
Welborn,  of  the  C.  F.  &  I  that  they  had  spent  $57',000  in  1915 
wrecking  huts  and  building  concrete  houses. 

"Listens  good,  but — the  huts  were  rent  free.  The  miners 
paid  $2  to  $6  a  year  for  ground  lease,  while  the  concrete  houses 
are  rented  to  them,  some  at  $12  a  month — and  this  is  sailed 
philanthropy. 

"A  club  house,  costing  $15,000  (?)  was  also  built  for  the 
welfare  of  the  dear  miners,  but  President  Welborn  forgot  to 
tell  the  Low  commission  that  the  300  miners  of  Sopris  had  to 
pay  $1  a  month  to  enjoy  Rockefeller's  charity.  If  but  150 
miners  fell  for  this,  it  would  amount  to  $1,800  a  year,  or  12 
per  cent  on  investment — another  clever  business  deal,  yet  the 
press  called  it  magnanimous! 

"If  a  just  valuation  on  property  holdings  were  paid,  there 
would  be  ample  funds  to  maintain  public  schools,  where  teach- 
ers would  not  constantly  cram  down  the  necks  of  their  pu- 
pils— for  all  these  things  you  are  indebted  to  your  father- 
benefactor,  John  D.  Rockefeller,  Jr. 

"In  1909  the  highest  assessed  valuation  of  the  C.  F.  &  I.  in 
Las  Animas  county  Avas  $1,250,000.  Public  feeling  caused  the 
county  commissioners  to  appoint  a  committee  of  three  business 
men  to  report  upon  values.  Their  unanimous  recommendation 
was,  that  the  valuation  be  raised  to  $25,000,000. 

"Public  opinion  has  gradually  forced  the  C.  F.  &  I.  to  in- 
crease their  valuation  until  it  amounted  to  $5,000,000  in  1914 
—yet  the  most  conservative  business  men  insist  it  should  be 
$10,000,000  at  least 

"Thousands  of  acres  are  listed  by  the  company,  as  grazing 
lands,  which  assessors  virtually  know  to  be  coal  lands.  Grazing 
land  is  assessed  at  $5  an  acre,  coal  land  at  $300  to  $500  an  acre. 

"In  Las  Animas  county,  239.300  acres  are  listed  as  grazing 
lands,  valued  at  $1,196,500,  half  of  this  is  coal  land  and  if 
valuation  was  assessed  as  such  on  only  one  half  of  it,  the 
amount  would  be.  $59,82*5,000. 

54 


"What  fair-minded  person  can  believe  that  John  D.  Rocke- 
feller, Jr.,  is  sincere,  when  he  preaches  about  the  welfare  of 
the  children  in  his  coal  camps  and  robs  them  of  thousands  of 
dollars  school  tax 

"Excuse  me,"  said  Lawson,  pocketing  watch  and  extending 
his  hand,  "am  sorry,  but  have  an  important  engagement  and 
must  go.  .  .  ." 

Bob  was  gratified  to  find  Attorney  Horace  N.  Hawkins,  "a 
son  of  the  sod." 

"In  Lawson's  Frame-up,"  explained  Hawkins,  "the  prose- 
cution used  two  Baldwin-Felts  detectives — Snyder  and 
Murphy.  They  testified  Lawson  declared  the  miners  were  go- 
ing to  attack  the  mine  guards  and  also  that  they  saw  Lawson 
hiking  toward  the  shooting,  90  minutes  before  Nimmo  was 
killed.  — You  know  Lawson  was  charged  with  the  murder  of 
John  Nimmo,  a  scab  herder. — 

"Lawson's  persecution  was  the  result  of  his  activity  in 
behalf  of  the  miners.  'Way  back  in  1906,  Lawson  went  to  Huer- 
fano  county  to  organize  them. 

"The  Coal  Barons,  frantic  that  in  their  midst,  was  a  man 
informing  the  slaves  of  their  constitutional  rights,  ordered 
their  sheriff  to  get  Lawson,  who  broke  no  laws,  or  they'd  get 
a  new  sheriff ! 

"So  when  Lawson  left  Walsenburg  for  a  nearby  camp,  two 
deputies  followed  him.  Reaching  the  edge  of  town  one  of  these 
thugs  put  a  six-shooter  in  Lawson's  pocket  and  the  other 
'officer'  arrested  him  for  carrying  concealed  weapons — 

"After  the  Ludlow  massacre,  a  signed  call  to  arms  for  self- 
protection,  'against  the  murder  of  men,  women  and  children 
by  armed  assassins'  of  the  Coal  Barons,  was  sent  out  by  a  com- 
mittee of  nine  representing  coal  miners,  metal  miners  and  the 
State  Federation  of  Labor.  The  name  of  John  R.  Lawson, 
International  Board  Member,  District  15,  United  Mine  Work- 
ers of  America,  headed  the  list. 

"The  various  efforts  to  get  Lawson,  culminated  on  May  3, 
1915.  On  the  testimony  of  these  Baldwin-Felts — one  of  whom 
was  a  fugitive  from  justice  and  both  trusted  employees  of  the 
union,  who  naturally  were  unaware  of  their  double-dealing. 
Lawson  was  convicted,  but  I  was  ready  with  several  certified 
checks,  of  different  large  amounts,  to  get  Lawson  out  on  bail, 
if  possible. 

"So  when  special  trial  Judge  Gfranby  Hillyer — former 
lawyer  for  the  Operators,  appointed  on  this  special  job  by 
Gov.  Elias  Ammons — Informed  the  Defense  that  bail  would  be 

55 


$10,000,  while  our  motion  for  a  new  trial  was  pending  I  tossed 
the  Court  Clerk  a  check  and  locking  arms  with  Lawson,  led 
him  out  of  the  Court  Boom.  .  .  ." 

"Mr.  Hawkins,  Mr. is  here,  shall  I  tell  him  to  wait?" 

''Certainly,"  and  turning  to  Bob,  "Come  back  this  after- 
noon  " 

"Can't,"  replied  Bob,  leaving  for  Kansas  City  at  1  p.  m." 

THE  LITTLE  "JAYHAWKER'S"  ARRIVAL 

"You  can  have  supper  at  my  house — if  your  wife  will  cook 
it.  Mrs.  Woods  is  in  the  hospital,  in  Denver."  Such  was  the 
invitation  given  Bob  by  Mills  Wood,  employee  in  the  railroad 
shops,  Limon,  Colo.,  at  the  close  of  a  noon-hour  talk.  Another 
shop  employee,  Robinson,  studying  law,  volunteered  to  pass  a 
subscription  list  on  pay-day.  .  .  . 

Arrival  at  Goodland,  Kansas,  was  during  a  hot  fight  con- 
ducted by  merchants  against  the  railroad  workers'  co-operative 
buying  plan.  This  created  agitation  for  a  co-operative  store, 
which  was  launched  at  a  well  attended  meeting,  where  Bob 
spoke  and  received  an  invitation  to  speak  next  afternoon  to 
the  Locomotive  Firemen. 

A  motion  to  contribute  to  the  Defense,  caused  a-letter-of- 
the-law  brother  to  wail: 

"A  quorum  ain't  present!" 

Brother  Flick  verified  it  with  a  glance  and  banged  the 
gavel,  saying:  "Everyone  of  you  brothers  remain  here,  'till  I 
get  another  tallow-pot." 

He  did,  then  Lodge  No.  369  of  the  Brotherhood  voted  $15  to 
the  Mooney  Defense. 

Desiring  to  have  the  money  to  rent  an  apartment  in  Kan- 
sas City,  Bob  appealed  to  the  Mooney  Defense,  who  wired 
$25  to  Colby,  Kansas. 

"Can't  pay  the  money  unless  someone  here  identifies  you," 
said^the  Banker,  with  studied  deliberation. 

Next  morning  Bob  was  grateful  to  Rand  Jones,  who  identi- 
fied him  at  the  bank,  and  who  with  D.  Beaddy,  liberally 
bought  literature,  after  they  assured  him  of  the  impossibility 
of  a  meeting  in  "their  town."  .  .  . 

In  their  haste  to  reach  Kansas  City,  Frank  and  Bob  trav- 
eled night  and  day,  ove  r  fair  roads,  through  Hays.  Ellsworth, 
Salina,  Manhattan,  Junction  City  and  Topeka — even  spending 
rent  money,  instead  of  trying  to  add  to  it. 

"It's  pretty  cold  to  sleep  out ;  better  come  over  and  sleep  in 
our  front  room,"  invited  Matt  Burke,  from  whom  Bob  had 
bought  milk,  earlier  in  the  evening. 

56 


"Thank  you,"  answered  Frank,  "but  this  will  be  our  last 
night  to  camp  and  we  might  catch  cold  in  the  house." 

Frank's  restlessness  during  the  wee  hours  the  following 
morning,  fearfully  worried  Bob  and  eventually  caused  him  to 
accept  Mr.  Burke's  invitation. 

With  a  lusty  yell,  "Bob"  Blackstone,  Jr.,  arrived,  Tuesday, 
November  27,  at  9:30  a.  m. — an  hour  before  the  Doctor,  sum- 
moned from  Topeka^_ 

"You're  some  little  Jay -hawker"  complimented  Dr.  Smith, 
as  he  completed  his  examination  of  the  just-born. 

"Jay-hawker?"  questioned  Bob. 

"Yes,"  vouchafed  the  Doctor,  "that  is  the  term  applied  to 
one  born  in  Kansas  and  receives  the  name,  from  a  band  of 
Guerillas,  who  were  irregular  soldiers,  fighting  for  the  eman- 
cipation of  the  black-man 

"Then  in  reality.  'Jay-hawker'  means  agitator — a  fighter 
for  better  things?  Well,  that  is  certainly  appropriate,"  de- 
clared Bob. 

Before  taking  leave  of  Frank,  the  following  morning,  Bob 
squandered  90  of  his  total  capital  of  143  cents,  buying  some 
necessaries  for  "his  family.  .  .  ." 

A  cop  directed  Bob  to  the  Inter-City  Viaduct — a  mile  long, 
connecting  Kansas  City,  Mo.,  and  Kansas  City,  Kan.  He  was 
stepping  on  the  gas  when  a  uniformed  individual  yelled: 
"STOP!' 

"Toll  ?"  questioned  Bob  in  an  anxious  voice,  as  he  gingerly 
forked  over  25  of  his  remaining  43,  having  previously  spent  10 
cents  for  a  lunch  of  peanuts  and  apples. 

"Hey  Nolan !  here's  the  Mooney  Agitator  we  met  in  Pu- 
eblo," called  Mrs.  Carpenter  to  her  husband  and  added,  "Park 
the  car  in  the  yard  and  I'll  get  some  supper  for  you  and  your 
wife,  right  away." 

"Thanks,  I'll  park  the  car  and  eat  supper,  but  my  wife  and 
baby  are  in  Newman,  Kansas." 

"Baby?"  interrogated  the  Carpenters  in  chorus. 

Yes — and  he  is  just  36  hours  and  19  minutes  old,"  carefully 
calculated  Bob,  as  he  pocketed  the  "Ingersoll." 

On  the  invitation  of  Mr.  Carpenter,  next  day,  Bob  spoke 
to  the  Carmen  of  the  Rock  Island  shops.  Literature  sales  at 
this  meeting  enabled  him  to  send  Frank  railroad  fare,  and  ten 
days  later,  during  a  snowstorm,  she  arrived  with  Robert.  Jr., 
and  a  Fox-terrier  puppy,  a  present  from  the  Burkes. 

"Bob,  I'm  sure  glad  we  followed  your  hunch  and  camped 
that  night  near  the  Burkes  for  a  finer  family  I've  never  met  in 
all  my  travels.  Father  Heron  said  the  same  about  them  when 

57 


/ 

he  came  to  see  the  new  baby  and  give  it  his  blessing  and  Mrs. 
Burke  nursed  me  as  tho  I  were  her  own  daughter  and  the  food 
was  so  well  cooked  and  tasty,  that  after  each  meal  I  felt  needed 
strength." 

FIVE  WEEKS  OLD— WITH  SMALLPOX 

Bob  secured  the  co-operation  of  the  Central  Labor  Union, 
Kansas  City,  Mo.,  to  hold  a  Mooney  Mass  Meeting,  Jan.  13, 
1918.  The  use  of  the  Labor  Temple  Auditorium  was  donated 
and  also  the  money  for  advertising. 

Frank  P.  Walsh,  Redmond  S.  Brennon  and  Vernon  J.  Rose, 
were  to  be  the  speakers  and  Bob  was  to  show  the  Frame-up 
slides. 

Ten  days  before  the  meeting,  Frank  becoming  seriously  ill, 
Bob  called  in  Dr.  Burkhardt,  who  laconically  diagnosed:  "A 
beautiful  case  of  smallpox!" 

It  took  the  inefficient,  slow-moving,  petty-squabbling, 
graft-ridden,  City  Health  Department  a  week  to  take  Frank 
and  Robert,  Jr.,  to  the  Isolation  Ward  of  the  General  Hospital. 
During  said  week  Bob  was  nurse,  cook,  laundress  and  house- 
keeper. 

A  health  official  then  commanded  Bob  to  take  a  bath  and 
he'd  be  perfectly  germless — the  ways  of  the  wise  are  mys- 
terious: Killing  smallpox  germs — in  clothing — by  bathing! 

Without  doubt,  the  germs  airplaning  around  the  apartment 
met  immediate  death — by  fright — because  of  the  tough  look 
on  this  health  official's  face. 

"Bob,  this  is  the  most  miserable  place  I've  ever  been  in. 
Your  stories  of  charity  mongers  are  tame,  compared  to  this 
Chamber  of  Horrors — hell  hasn't  anything  on  this  place  and 
Satan's  a  saint,  beside  some  of  the  charity  dispensers  here," 
glibly  orated  Frank,  from  the  top  of  the  stairs  to  Bob  at  the 
foot  of  stairs  on  his  first  "visit." 

"Thanks  for  the  fruit,  when  you  come  again  bring  some 
canned  soup,  crackers,  eggs  and  a  bottle  of  olive  oil  to  soften 
the  pox  eruptions  and — and  bring  cathartics,  too.  This  place 
can't  afford  those  things,  or  nightgowns,  or  slippers — not  even 
clean  bed-clothes — why  I  wouldn't  put  the  pup  in  the  bed  I 
slept  in  last  night.  The  sheets  and  pillow-cases  covered  with 
blood  spots  and  other  human  filth.  Was  able  with  Robert's 
diapers  to  protect  him ' 

"Where  are  the  gowns  and  slippers  you  brought?"  inter- 
rupted Bob. 

"Worse  still,"  explained  Frank,  "nurses  don't  want  to 
lather  fumigating  them  when  one  is  discharged. 

58 


"Why  Bob,  my  palms  are  so  covered  with  eruptions,  I  can- 
not close  my  hand^  yet  I  must  bathe  Robert,  wash  his  diapers 
and  wring  them  with  my  finger-tips  and  teeth." 

MEETING  KILLED 

An  explosion,  afternoon,  Sunday,  January  13,  killing  four 
Negroes  and  two  white  men,  in  the  engine  room  of  the  light 
plant,  put  the  city  in  darkness  and  stopped  the  cars. Nine- 
teen per>ons  braved  the  snow  and  darkness,  hiking  to  the  La- 
bor Temple.  Two  walked  nine  miles. 

"Guess  I've  got  'em  too  and  that  damn  explosion  killed  the 
meeting,"  complained  Bob,  depositing  his  bundles  for  Frank, 
near  the  head  of  the  stair.  .  .  . 

"Am  glad  you  brought  the  canned  soup,  I'll  give  it  to  an 
expectant  mother,  who  has  not  eaten  for  five  days.  She  can- 
not eat  the  slop  they  serve.  The  pale  coffee,  burnt  toast 
and  mush  with  watered  milk,  all  served  cold,  via  dumbwaiter 
twice  a  day,  with  a  variation  of  smelly  hash  and  potatoes  for 
lunch.  If  you  can't  stand  in  line,  you  don't  eat,  unless  a  fel- 
low patient  carries  your  tray,  for  the  nurses  will  not." 

"How  do  the  Doctors  treat  you-?"  questioned  Bob. 

"The  only  one  we  see.  Dr.  Coons,  flukes  thru  the  wards 
every  other  day,  chucking  women  under  the  chin  and  flicking 
cigar  ashes — overcoat  on,  hat  and  gloves  in  his  hand.  The 
intern  and  also  visiting  priests,  to  Sister  Victoria,  must  dress 
in  white  in  place  of  their  outer  garments." 

"If  that's  the  kind  of  treatment  one  gets  here,  they'd  bet- 
ter be  quarantined  home — "  snapped  Bob. 

"Take  your  hand- off  that  door — contaminating  it,"  snarled 
the  night  nurse,  jerking  the  door  from  Frank. 

"And  you,"  pointing  at  Bob,  "get  out,  you  haven't  any 
business  here " 

"Who  do  you  think  you're  talking  to — a  dog?"  demanded 
Frank.  As  she  said  "good  night"  to  Bob,  the  nurse  demon- 
strated her  ignorance  of  germs  and  bacteria,  by  polishing  the 
door  and  knob  with  a  dirty  rag. 

Two  days  later  Bob  was  taken  to  the  pest-house,  back  of  the 
Negro  hospital.  Johnson,  a  regular  fellow,  bought  some  fruit 
for  Frank  and  delivered  it  along  with  a  chicken  from  Mrs. 
Burke  and  Bob's  last  $2. 

EATING  AGAIN 

"You're  not  the  Mr.  Blackstone  that  got  the  other  money," 
positively  asserted  the  Western  Union  clerk. 


"Oh,  yes  I  am!"  truculently  replied  Bob.  "I  can  prove  it 
by  duplicating  my  signature,  and  Dr.  Coons,  who  just  dis- 
charged me  from  the  smallpox  ward — 

This  electrified  the  girl;  she  tore  to  the  manager,  a  few 
whispered  words,  and  returning  commanded: 

"Please  sign." 

"A  tenth  of  this  alacrity  a  few  weeks  ago  would  have  kept 
my  wife  and  baby  from  being  hungry,"  censured  Bob.  "I  ex- 
plained to  you  when  wiring  for  this  money,  I  was  going  to  the 
hospital  and  my  wife  was  coming  out  and  would  need  it — " 

"Please  sign,"  interrupted  the  girl  in  a  tremulous  voice. 

"The  first  square  meal  I've  had  in  three  weeks,"  explained 
Frank,  "and  if  it  hadn't  been  for  Peterson,  Gude  and  the 
others  loaning  me  a  few  dollars,  we'd  have  starved,  for  the 
Y.  W.  C.  A.  turned  me  down  cold  when  I  applied  to  them  to 
get  me  some  sewing."  .  .  . 

REAL  "SYMPATHY" 

A  laundry-drivers'  strike  spread  to  the  poorly-paid  girls, 
"some  of  whom  sorted  soiled  clothes,  amid  buzzing  flies,  in 
basements  where  horses  were  stalled." 

Club  women  called  a  meeting  at  the  Muchleback  Hotel, 
where  workers  and  employers  were  to  *discuss  peace.  When 
Negro  fellow-workers  were  refused  admittance,  the  whites 
left  the  conference  in  a  body,  one  remarking : 

"Before  these  society  dames  have  to  beat  it  to  tea-up,  they'll 
kno'  that  some  'whites'  are  lucky  their  blackness  is  on  the 
inside!" 

"Porter,  the  Business  Agent  of  the  Laundry  Owners'  Asso- 
ciation," a  speaker  later  told  the  strikers,  "said  uncomplimen- 
tary things  about  you,  your  families,  your  representatives,  and 
deliberately  lied  about  conditions  in  the  laundries." 

"One  of  your  representatives  (Sarah  Green)  told  these 
club  women  the  truth  about  conditions,  and  offered  to  prove 
it  by  visits  and  workers'  testimony.  Porter  accused  the  work- 
ers of  violence,  she  told  the  ladies.  Yet  he  kicked  a  62-year-old 
woman — who  has  two  sons  in  France — down  stairs  in  his  laun- 
dry-" 

"In  a  ten-knot  gauge  of  royal  rage"  Porter,  with  menacing 
fists,  rushed  at  Mrs.  Green,  barking: 
'You — you're  a  God  damn  liar!" 

"'You — you're  a  gentleman!'"  diplomatically  lied  Mrs. 
Green  as  Porter  was  dragged  away,  before  he  could  make  a 
bigger  ass  of  himself  and  further  queer  the  Laundry  Owners. 

60 


"The  conference  ended  in  a  near  riot,  the  outraged  club 
women  denouncing  Porter  for  his  ungentlemanly  conduct  to- 
ward Mrs.  Green — few  denounced  him  for  kicking  the  old 
woman  striker." 

Last  of  March  at  a  special  meeting,  three  delegates  being 
present  from  every  union  affiliated  with  the  Central  Body, 
declared  a  general  "cessation  of  work" — a  sympathetic  strike. 

IN  THE  GLORIOUS  U.  S.— 100  YEARS  AGO- 

"The  Big  Bosses  insisted  wages  were  too  high.    Children  in  * 
the  textile  mills  received  150  cents  a  week.     Then  "women 
and  children  worked  from  4:30  a.  m.  until  dark,  having  30 


CON  FOLBY, 
Second  Vice-President  Journeymen  Barbers 

minutes  for  breakfast  and  45  minutes  for  lunch,"  declared 
Con  Foley,  Second  Vice-President  of  the  Journeymen  Barbers 
International  Union,  addressing  the  strikers. 

'•Why,  in  1829  there  were  75,000  workers  iu  prison  for 
owing  money.  Half  of  'em  did  not  owe  $20.  Women  and  men 
were  herded  together,  in  barn-like  rooms,  without  food  or  fuel. 

"Then,  as  now,  charities  instead  of  trying  to  abolish  the 
vicious  law.  begged  fodder  and  rags,  helping  maintain  a  sys- 
tem that  imprisoned  for  the  trifling  debt  of  a  shilling— 

61 


"But  organized  labor  fought  it;  as  they  fought  property 
qualifications  to  vote;  as  they  fought  the  proposition  that 
to  be  governor  of  Massachusetts  one  must  be  a  'Christian, 
worth  $5,000.' 

"Well,  by  1837  labor  had  secured,  according  to  Simons' 
Class  Struggle,  page  45.  'everything  of  a  democratic  character 
in  our  present  social  and  political  institutions.  Yet  historians, 
preachers,  politicians  and  business  men  ignore  the  fact  and  also 
that  to  organize  labor,  more  than  any  other  cause,  we  owe 
'abolition  of  imprisonment  for  debt,  the  mechanics'  lien  law, 
freedom  of  association,  improvement  in  prison  adminstration, 
direct  election  of  presidential  electors,  and  our  free  common 
school  system.' 

"Neither  the  Declaration  of  Independence  nor  the  Consti- 
tution make  any  reference  to  education.  So  early  unionists, 
realizing  the  need  of  school  system  where  one  did  not  have  to 
qualify  as  a  pauper,  began  the  fight  and  in  the  world's  first 
labor  paper — founded  1828,  in  Philadelphia — in  issue  of  Au- 
gust 12,  1829,  answering  the  question,  'What  do  the  workmen 
expect?'  replied:  'A  general  system  of  education  on  an  inde- 
pendent principle.' 

"Then  in  New  York,  March  20,  1830,  a  workmen's  meeting 
resolved,  'that  the  public  funds  should  be  appropriated  to  the 
purpose  of  education,  upon  a  regular  system,  that  shall  insure 
the  opportunity  to  every  individual  of  obtaining  a  competent 
education  before  he  arrives  at  the  age  of  maturity.' 

"And  in  Boston,  1833,  the  chairman  of  a  workmen's  con- 
vention concluded:  Above  all,  we  demand  'an  universal  and 
useful  education.' 

"Why,  the  Carpenters  so  forcefully  demanded  free  public 
schools  that  a  member — probably  a  damn  Red — was  hung — 
by  loyal  100  per  centers. 

"All  respectables  fought  the  idea  of  free  schools  and  the 
press  then  as  now  denounced  all  efforts  of  the  common  people 
to  better  their  condition.  Why  The  Philadelphia  National  Ga- 
zette, in  1830,  said : 

"  'Literature  cannot  be  acquired  without  leisure,  and  wealth 
«/ivcs  leisure.  Universal  opulence,  or  even  competency,  is  a 
chimera,  as  man  and  society  are  constituted.  There  will  erer 
be  distinctions  of  conditions,  of  capacities,  of  knowledge  and 
ignorance,  in  spite  of  all  the  fond  conceits  which  may  be  tried, 
to  the  contrary.  The  peasant  must  labor  during  the  hours 
of  the  day,  which  his  wealthy  neighbor  can  give  to  the  abstrac/, 
culture  of  his  mind;  otherwise,  the  earth  would  not  yield 
enough  for  the  subsistence  of  all.' 

62 


"So,"  concluded  Foley,  "the  next  time  someone  tries  to 
tell  you  that  'unions  haven't  done  anything  but  cause  a  lot  of 
strike  trouble,'  you  tell  'em  some  of  the  things  labor  has  done, 
and  if  they  want  authority  tell  'em  to  read  Volume  V,  Docu- 
mentary History  of  American  Industrial  Society,  *by  Prof. 
Commons  of  the  University  of  Wisconsin." 

THE  FIRST  AND  THE  LAST 

The  Movie  Operators — the  smallest  active  union — was  the 
first  to  go  on  strike  and  last  to  return.  The  Trolley  men — 
the  largest  organization — the  first  to  return.  They  had  been 
organized  only  a  few  months.  Bob  spoke  to  them  four  times, 
explaining  how  Tom  Mooney,  a  volunteer  organizer  of  their 
craft,  had  been  framed-up  by  Martin  Swanson,  private  detec- 
tive for  the  United  Railroads  of  San  Francisco,  whose  plat- 
form-men Mooney  had  organized. 

After  last  appeal,  Donohue  made  a  motion  that  $500  be 
donated  to  Mooney  defense.  This  produced  an  uproarious 
laugh  from  the  officials.  Final  action  was  turned  over  to 
executive  board,  who  grudgingly  sent  check  of  $10. 

"We're  some  live  bunch,"  sneered  Donahue,  "donating  less 
than  half  a  cent  per- member  to  save  a  man's  neck.  The  labor 
movement  of  Kansas  City  helped  us  organize  and  we've  used 
this  Labor  Temple  time  and  again,  when  we  didn't  have  a 
treasury,  and  now  this  union — I  blame  the  officials — are  such 
tight-wad§JJiey'll  not  even  buy  a  Labor  Temple  bond !  If  we 
ever  have  a  "strike — a  real  battle — there'll  be  about  100  men  to 
hold  the  charter  of  724,  but  they'll  be  a  damn  sight  more  gen- 
erous than  the  whole  membership  of  2300."  .  .  . 

SELLING  HOME  TO  PEDDLE  JOURNALS 

Arriving  early  at  a  meeting,  where  Ruse,  President  of 
Howe's  Welfare  Brotherhood — the  'Hobo  Union' — was  to 
speak,  Bob  met  W.  J.  Adames,  editor  and  manager  of  the  Rail- 
way Carmen's  Journal. 

"The  first  lodge  of  Carmen,"  said  Adames,  answering 
Bob's  question,  "was  founded  by  W.  H.  Ronemus — 7  men 
present— at  Cedar  Rapids,  Iowa,  'Oct.  27,  1888. 

"Within  14  months,  lodges  were  organized  at  Topeka  and 
Wichita,  Kansas,  by  a  personal  visit,  and  by  correspondence 
at  Pueblo,  Colorado,  and  Fairbury.  Nebraska. 

"Another  organization — Carmen's  Mutual  Aid  Association 
— was  founded  by  Sylvester  Keliher  at  Minneapolis,  Minne- 
sota. Nov.  23,  1888. 

63 


"Keliher  organized  lodges  at  St.  Paul;  La  Crosse,  Wis- 
consin; Mason  City,  Iowa,  and  St.  Joseph,  Missouri.  When 
Ronemus  tried  to  start  a  lodge  in  Kansas  City,  he  learned 
about  Keliher  and  his  association. 

"Both*  organizations — founded  to  benefit  car-workers — 
amalgamated  at  the  first  convention  of  Eailway  Carmen,  To- 
peka,  Kansas,  Oct.  23,  1890.  F.  E..Geiger,  Pueblo,  named  the 
consolidation  Brotherhood  Railway  Carmen  of  America. 

"In  three  years,  pur  Brotherhood  had  almost  10,000  mem- 
bers— a  national  office,  a  stenographer,  and  two  Grand  Lodge 
officers,  receiving  salaries. 

"Then  Grand  Secretary-Treasurer  Keliher  deserted  the 
Brotherhood  ship,  becoming  General  Secretaiy-Treasurer  of 
the  A.  R.  U.  This  and  the  panic  of  '95  and  conditions  that 
followed  caused  our  membership  to  fall  to  300  by  1899.  Then 
F.  L.  Ronemus,  Grand  Secretary-Treasurer,  sold  his  property 
in  Iowa  and  with  the  money  began  republishing  the  Journal — 
which  had  been  suspended — and  in  a  few  months  the  member- 
ship had  increased  to  1,000. 

"Since  then  our  growth  has  been  slow,  but  steady,  and  at 
our  convention  last  year  (1917)  the  membership  was  50,000."* 

Further  conversation  was  silenced  by  the  chairman's  gavel. 


A  side-trip  took  Bob  to  Wichita,  where  he  met  "Bill"  Free- 
man, President  Kansas  State  Federation  of  Labor,  who  had 
just  organized  the  trolley -men. 

"I.  W.  AV.  organizers  are  not  the  only  ones  they  run  out  of 
town.  Had  a  tip,  indirectly,  from  a  city  commissioner  that  an 
appeal  for  sanction  had  been  made  to  run  Vanderburg — the 
fellow  that  started  the  union — and  myself  out  of  town.  And," 
continued  Freeman,  "this  paytriotic  proposal  came  from  the 
'Super,'  but  was  probably  hatched  in  the  Chamber  of  Com- 
merce. 

"One  night,  with  about  20  union  members  present,  the  raid- 
ing party,  'led  by  an  inspector  and  the  auditor,  stormed  into 
my  room  in  the  Bower  Hotel.  Seeing  we  outnumbered  them, 
their  cowardly  hearts  failed,  and  then  denunciations  and  ap- 
peals followed,  in  an  effort  to  get  the  men  to  throw  the  union 
down.  The  auditor  asserted,  'The  men  are  getting  as  much  as 
£hey  are  worth!  My  wages  are  lower  than  the  lowest  paid 
platform  man  now !' 

*At  Toronto,  Canada,  B.  R.  C.  of  A.  convention,  Aug.  1921, 
membership  was  200,000 — a  300  per  cent  increase  in  four  years. 

64 


"Not  worth  any  more,  I  suppose!  You're  a  white-collared 
slave,  can  live  on  promises  and  scab  cigars,  but  men  must  have 
wages,"  said  Freeman 

A  noon-hour  talk  to  the  shop-men  at  Hferington  was  made 
by  Bob,  returning  to  Kansas  City,  where  he  received  a  tele- 
gram, ordering  him  to  the  Ohio  coal  fields.  .  .  . 

Climbing  a  hill,  in  low  gear,  motor  roaring,  the  car  began 
to  back  down.  This  greatly  distressed  Frank  and  Bob,  for 
the  family  purse  contained  15  cents. 

Bob  gave  his  "note"  for  $1  to  a  German  farmer,  who  towed 
the  car  to  some  shade,  wrhere  Bob  hastily  pulled  the  rear-end 
and  found  the  pinion-gear  key  sheared  off. 

Next  morning  -they  were  heartily  welcomed  by  E.  T. 
Behrens,  editor  Railway  Federationist — official  paper  Rail- 
way Employees'  Department  of  the  A.  F.  of  L. — and  Ed. 
Mullaley,  Secretary  Sedalia  Federation  of  Labor. 

"Anything  I  can  do  for  you — just  ask  it,"  invited  Mullaley. 

Later  Mullaley  showed  he  was  good  as  his  word,  loaning 
the  Mooney  Agitators  $2  so  they  might  eat  breakfast. 

As  Bob  stepped  out  of  the  Labor  Temple,  where  he  had 
spoken  to  the  Machinists,  two  plainclothesmen  commanded 
him : 

"Drive  to  the  station ;  the  Chief  wants  to  see  you." 

CONVERTING  THE  CHIEF 

"What  was  in  the  black  case  you  delivered  to  the  Sneiderhof 
Hotel,  as  you  were  leaving  Kansas  City?"  was  the  Chief's  first 
question.  . 

"Esperanto  text-books,"  was  the  instant  reply. 

"What's  Esperanto?"  the  Chief  demanded. 

"It's  an  international  language,  scientifically  arranged  by 
Dr.  Zamenhof f ,  and  has  been  used  for  35  years,"  answered  Bob. 

"Keep  on,"  ordered  the  Chief.    "Who  uses  it?" 

"Freemasons  and  Catholics,  Christians  and  Bahaists,  So- 
cialists and  anti-Alcoholists,  international  associations  of  Doc- 
tors, Lawyers.  Writers,  Tourists,  Spiritualists,  Theosophists, 
Vegetarians,  Railway  Workers,  Postal  Workers  and  the  Inter- 
national Organization  of  Police  send  out  descriptive  matter 
of  wanted  criminals  in  Esperanto,  thereby  saving  time  and 
money  from  translation  and  publication  into  other  languages. 

"Esperantos  in  Germany,  France,  Italy  and  England  are 
setting  forth  their  war  reasons  in  Esperanto,  and  the  only  non- 
Soviet  meeting  permitted  in  Petrograd  is  the  weekly  meeting 
of  the  Esperanto  Club — " 

65 


"Not  so  fast,"  interrupted  the  Chief,  his  pen  scratching. 
"What  does  it  sound  like?  Where  do  you  get  the  words?" 

"Police,"  replied  Bob,  "is  Esperanto  for  police;  Polic-an-o 
is  Esperanto  for  policeman;  polic-ej-o  is  Esperanto  for  police- 
station;  polic-vagorio  is  Esperanto  for  'hurry-up  wagon;'  chef- 
polic-an-o  is  Esperanto  for  chief  of  police.' 

"Many  languages  use  the  same  words,  with  slight  changes. 
These  words  are  all  in  Esperanto,  numbering  several  hundred, 
and  have  Latin,  Slavic,  Aryan  and  Sandscript  origin — " 

"Do  you  correspond  with  German  Esperantists?"  suspi- 
ciously asked  the  Chief. 

"Sure — and  Esperantists  in  35  other  countries — " 

ENTERS— RUBBER-TIRED  GOGGLES 

"Well,  we  got  you,"  menacingly  bragged  the  Department  of 
Justice,  as  it  swaggered  into  a  chair,  snaky  eyes  peering  thru 
rubber-tired  goggles. 

The  uncouth  position  it  assumed — sitting  on  its  neck,  its 
feet  parked  on  the  desk-top,  hand  intimatingly  in  a  gun-pocket, 
and  the  frequent  squirting  at  a  spittoon — recalled  to  Bob  the 
lines  from  "Cataline's  Defiance  to  the  Roman  Senators" : 
"Vipers — that  have  wound  their  loathsome  track, 
To  this  huge  moldering  monument  of  Rome, 
Hang  hissing  at  the  nobler  man  below." 

"Blackstone,"  piped  Goggles,  "I  know  all  about  you  pro- 
Germans,  Socialists,  An-ARK-ists,  I  Double  W's,  and  Brush- 
shiskis — " 

"Sounds  like  it,"  was  Bob's  interruption. 

"So  don't  lie,"  Goggles  chattered  on.  "What  kind  of  pro- 
German  propaganda  is  the  Mooney  case?" 

''Mooney — and  Billings,  who  helped — called  a  strike; 
stopped  the  cars;  got  the  jitney-bus  drivers  to  back  the  strik- 
ers with  a  $700  a  day  assessment — are  the  victims  of  Indus- 
trial Kaiser  bosses.  The  Department  of  Justice  in  San  Fran- 
cisco investigated,  but  would  not  arrest  Mooney — no  evidence ! 
It  was  up  to  Fickert,  a  crooked  District  Attorney,  to  "frame" 
witnesses,  ably  assisted  by  some  corrupt  police  officials,  who, 
raking  the  slimy  slums  of  Barbary  Coast,  found  a  sodomist,  a 
dope  fiend  scab  waiter,  a  rich- (less)  cattleman,  who  suborned 
pur  jury,  and  a  bleary-eyed  prostitute — all  easily  brow -beaten 
by  the  bull-dozing  police!" 

"That's  what  you  say,"  piped  Goggles. 

"No,"  thundered  Bob,  "here's  the  proof,"  handing  around 
the  Mooney  booklet.  "I  sell  'em  for  a  dime,  to  pay  expenses, 
but  will  contribute  these  for  the  education  of  the  Depart- 
ment—" 66 


"Blackstone,  do  you  carry  a  gun?"  questioned  he  of  the 
goggles.  "You  got  the  belt — 

"No!  Gun-toters  are  either  damn  fools,  or  criminals!" 

"Say,  Blackstone,  was  you  present  at  Rose  Pastor  Stokes' 
trial,  in  Kansas  City?" 

"Certainly!" 

"You  made  shorthand  notes,  didn't  you?" 

"You  bet  your  life,  and  when  you  had  finished  your  mum- 
blings in  the  witness  chair,  you  came  and  sat  back  of  me — Mr. 
Dillmgham." 

"You  know  me?" 


Mooney   (left)   and  Billing's,  serving  life  in  Caiforlnia,  prisons  for  crime 
they  never  committed. 

"Yes,  and  you  know  me,  and  know  that  for  six  months  IVe 
talked  Mooney  to  every  union  i  n  the  Kansas  Cities — this  inves- 
tigation is  all  bunk!" 

A  knock  at  the  door,  a  gruff  "Come  in,"  and  Editor  Behr- 
ens  entered,  grim-faced. 

"How's  the  wife  and  boy?  Have  been  so  busy  trying  to 
convince  the  United  States  Government  I  am  not  the  Kaiser, 
had  temporarily  forgotten  them — " 

"Department  of- Justice?"  began  Behrens,  ignoring  Bobs 
question ;  "if  it  was,  Blackstone  would  have  been  arrested  dur- 

67 


ing  the  day,  then  bail — any  amount — would  be  available.  Such 
deeds  as  these  are  always  performed  when  honest  men  are  in 
bed,"  and  Behrens'  withering  look  fetched  Dillingham  to  his 
feet,  piping: 

"If  you'll  promise  not  to  make  a  get-away  and  show  up  here 
in  the  morning  at  10  a.  m.,  I'll — I'll  let  you  go — " 

"My  tent  is  pitched  in  Vineyards  vacant  lot,  and  I  have 
from  three  to  five  talks  to  make  a  day  for  a  week;  so  don't 
worry,  I'll  be  here  when  you're  gone — good-night!" 


"Wish  I  had  a  statement  from  you,  showing  result  of  this 
investigation,"  said  Bob,  when  Chief  told  him  he  was  free  to 
go;  that  Dillingham  had  returned  to  Kansas  City  probably 
to  follow  other  leads  "discovered"  by  the  Star,  whose  editor 
had  been  made  a  citizen  by  a  federal  judge  in  violation  of 
President  Wilson's  proclamation  "that  no  more  Germans 
should  be  naturalized." 

"Glad  to  have  made  your  acquaintance,"  said  Behrens,  as 
Bob  stepped  in  to  say  good-bye,  "but  it  makes  me  boil  to  think 
you  were  investigated  by  one  who  is  supposed  to  ferret  out 
conspirators  against  our  government.  In  truth,  he  couldn't 
trace  a  limburger  in  a  perfume  factory.  It's  to  Chief  Marks- 
bury's  credit  this  investigation  was  not  self-imposed.  He's 
an  old-time  organizer  for  the  B.  R.  C.  of  A. — " 

"Listen,"  commanded  Bob,  reading : 

"This  is  to  certify,  that  Mr.  Blackstone  has  visited  my 
<of fice  several  times  in  the  last  few  days.  I  have  examined  his 
literature  and  found  nothing  anyone  could  object  to,  nor  have 
I  any  fault  to  find  with  him  while  he  was  in  our  city ;  in  fact, 
his  visits  to  my  office  have  been  a  pleasure,  as  he  has  been 
very  gentlemanly — and  his  conversation  very  entertaining. 
Respectfully, 

J.  B.  Marksbury,  Chief  of  Police." 

MEETING  A  LABOR  CHAMPION 

.\t  Jefferson  City,  capital  of  Missouri,  Bob  spoke  to  the 
State  Convention  of  the  Locomotive  Firemen  and  Enginemen, 
and  met  the  founder,  Joshua  A.  Leach,  endearingly  called 
"Pap"  by  "his  boys,"  who  Dec.  1,  1873,  with  ten  other  firemen 
of  the  old  Erie  Road,  organized  the  Brotherhood  at  Port 
Jervis,  New  York. 

A  snap-~hot  of  "Pap"  Leach  and  Mrs.  Killian — one  of  the 
12  delegates  to  organize  the  Ladies'  Auxiliary  to  the  Brother- 

68 


hood,  in  Cincinnati,  Ohio,  Sept.  15,  1892 — was  made  by  Bob, 
after  her  animated  appeal  to  the  delegates  for  financial  sup- 
port in  behalf  of  Mooney  Defense. 

Before  leaving  the  city  and  during  lunch  with  Mrs.  Tucker, 
wife  of  a  delegate — Frank  told  her  how  they  had  visited  the 
State's  Prison,  and  on  asking  to  see  Emma  Goldman,  who 
had  done  much  in  the  early  publicity  work  for  the  Mooney 
Defense,  the  well-fed  prison  official  exclaimed,  "She's  a  very 
dangerous  person!"  But  Bob's  request  to  see  the  Lewis  boys, 
doing  life  for  an  alleged  vicious  murder,  was  readily  granted. 

OUT  OF  GAS 

"Would  you  fellows  like  to  hear  a  talk  on  the  Mooney 
Case?"  asked  Bob,  as  he  put  on  the  brakes  near  a  gang  of  men, 
camped  close  to  a  freshly  graded  road. 

"Yes — if  the  Captain  will  stand  for  it,"  replied  a  likable 
young  fellow,  stepping  forward  with  proffered  palm.  "I'm 
one  of  four  union  teamsters  doing  four  years,  for  working 
over  a  scab." 

When  Bob  had  finished,  he  presented  each  of  the  32  con- 
victs a  copy  of  Mooney  booklet. — 

Camp  was  made  near  by  and  the  next  morning  Frank  was 
relieved  of  breakfast  duties  by ,  the  kindness  of  "the  boys" 
sharing  their  prison  fare — rank  coffee  and  leaden  biscuits 

Spitting  and  popping,  the  motor  died  the  following  morn- 
ing, four  miles  from  St.  Louis. 

"That  means,"  explained  Bob,  "We're  out  of  gas — " 

"Good-bye  breakfast — and  lunch,  too — if  we  have  to  spend 
our  last  60  cents  for  gas,"  said  Frank. 

"Keep  your  change,  kid !  I'll  be  back  in  a  few  minutes — 
with  gas!" — 

"Dern  th'  thing !  I've  wound  it  f er  two  days  and  it  won't 
go  yet,"  said  the  farmer,  as  Bob  hove  in  sight.  "And  all  I 
did  was  to  clean  my  carburetor — " 

"Will  you  give  me  a  quart  of  gas  if  I  start  it?"  askedvBob, 
as  he  swung  under  the  car. 

"Yes,  neighbor — two  of  'em." 

"Wind  'er  up,  boss,"  commanded  Bob,  slapping  the  dust 
off  his  clothes. 

"Whadydcha  do  to  it?"  the  amazed  farmer  demanded,  as 
Bob  idled  the  motor. 

"Turned  on  the  gas!" 

"Well,  I'll  be  dinged.  Sure  I  shut  it  off  to  clean  the  car- 
buretor and  forgot — '- 

69 


FIRE   FIGHTERS   AND  RIOT 

"Dime  left,"  announced  Bob,  as  they  left  the  restaurant. 
"We'll  go  to  Labor  Hall  and  get  acquainted."  .  .  . 

Bob  gave  the  fellow  leaning  on  the  stair-post  the  "high- 
ball," as  he  spied  his  Teamsters'  button,  and  asked : 

"Any  meetings?"  extending  dues-book  and  credentials. 

"Yes,  Fire  Fighters  taking  a  strike  vote,"  was  the  answer, 
"and  the  President  is  a  friend  of  mine.  Hey!"  he  broke  off, 
"guard,  tell  your  President  the  Teamsters'  Business  Agent 
wants  to  see  him — right  away." 

When  the  Teamster  explained  Bob's  mission,  the  President 
demanded : 

"Can  you  stop  in  five  minutes?" 

"Absolutely!"  answered  Bob.     .     .     . 

"Count  it — Fire  Fighters'  strike  meeting — big  crowd,  sold 
all  m'  books — big  collection  for  Mooney,  Secretary'll  send  it 
off,"  panted  Bob,  as  he  dropped  the  capful  of  nickels  and 
dimes  into  Frank's  lap. 

"M-m-my  w-w-wife'll  letcha  have  a  room,"  stammered  Mo- 
riarity,  one  of  the  "Fire  Boys,"  riding  the  running-boards 
from  the  strike  meeting,  St.  Louis,  Mo.,  to  their  station,  East 
St.  Louis,  111. 

"And  there's  room  in  the  station  for  your  car,"  said  an- 
other. "And  Moriarity,  show  'em  McVey's — they  can't  get 
better  eats  anywhere — " 

"Here's  where  they  cut  the  head  off  that  nigger  with  a 
butcher-knife,  during  the  race  riot  last  July,"  said  another, 
as  the  car  shot  down  the  incline  of  the  free  bridge  over  the 
Mississippi  into  East  St.  Louis — "they  threw  the  head  off 
one  side  and  the  body  off  the  other!" 

"What  started  the  race  riot?"  Bob  asked. 

"Th'  papers  said  'joy  riders'  drivin'  thru  Market  Street 
open-fired  on  some  niggers,  thinkin'  it's  more  joy-riders,  killed 
two  detectives — 

"Then  the  Whites  'cleaned  up'  on  the  Blacks.  They  laid 
around  the  streets  like  dead  hogs.  Everybody  helped — chil- 
dren, women  and'  bankers'  sons.  Yu  kno'  Swift,  Morris  and 
Armour  imported  a  lot  of  Southern  niggers  t'  break  th' 
strike — " 

"And  they  broke  it,  too,"  declared  another  Fire  Fighter. 
"And  if  they  have  another  strike  and  use  niggers  as  scabs 
and  strike-breakers,  there'll  be  somebody  besides  niggers  gettin' 
lynched ;  at  least  that's  what  lots  says — " 

"I  hope  to  Gawd,"  another  interrupted,  "they  don't  have 

70 


any  more  race  riots  while  I'm  on  the  Fire  Department.  Yu 
kno'  they  damn  near  worked  us  fellers  to  death.  After  ten 
blocks  of  the  niggers'  houses  was  burnt  down,  the  fire  spread 
to  the  Southern  Eailroad  Freight-house,  Hills-Thomas  Lime 
and  Cement  Company  plant  and  th'  Broadway  Opera  House-— 
a  lot  of  niggers  hid  in  the  basement,  burnt  up,  too — and  it 
took  us  two  nights  and  a  day,  savin'  other  property — one  of 
'em  J.  C.  Grant  Chemical  Company,  contained  1000  gallons 
of  gasoline  and  other  explosives — " 

"You'll  have  more  race  riots,  don't  worry,"  asserted  an- 
other Fire  Laddie.  "I  feel  the  same  as  District  Attorney 
Karch.  'as  long  as  the  heads  of  these  big  plants  break  strikes 
by  importing  Negro  strike-breakers,  so  long  can  they  expect 
to  have  race  riots.  This  si  no  defense  for  the  rioters;  there  is 
no  defense  for  them.  It  is  a  fact,  when  a  man's  family  is 
hungry  his  sense  of  justice  doesn't  operate  very  accurately — " 

"Yu  tell  'em,  Edjewkashion,"  cut  in  the  Fireman  who 
started  the  riot  story.  "You're  jest  out'er  school — " 

"Shut  up  and  I  will,"  "Edjewkashion"  retorted. 

"The  Chamber  of  Commerce  bringing  these  Negro  strike- 
breakers in  are  the  real  rioters.  They  know  what  will  happen 
and  that  real  estate  will  make  a  lot  of  dough.  Every  time 
the  mob  'got  a  nigger'  and  then  'got  another,'  real  estate  profits 
increased.  Talk  about  your  Ludlow  massacre  and  German 
atrocities,  we  had  'em  all,  right  here — " 

"Aw,  hell !"  began  a  disgusted  voice,  "yu  make  me  sick,  allus 
talkin'  about — " 

"Here  we  are,"  another  voice  cut  in.  "Come  in  and  get 
acquainted  with  the  bunch,  then  Moriarity'll  take  you  to  his 
home." 

SHOOTIN'  IT  UP 

In  the  office  of  the  Secretary  of  the  Central  Body,  Terre 
Haute,  Indiana,  Bob  became  acquainted  with  an  anti-Prohibi- 
tion Committee  from  the  Tri-Cities— Davenport,  Iowa,  Rock 
Island  and  Moline,  Illinois. 

Discussing  various  slants  of  the  Trade  Union  Movement, 
the  commftteeman  from  Davenport  declared: 

"The  A.  R.  U.  idea  is  the  only  form  of  organization — " 

"That's  what  you're  always  saying,  'Dave,' "  censured  the 
committeeman  from  Rock  Island.  "But  it  blew  up,  didn't  it?' 

"Xo.  'Rocky,'  it  was  shot  up  by  the  Federal  troops  Presi- 
dent Cleveland  sent  to  Chicago,  over  the  protest  of  Governor 
Altgeld  of  Illinois,  after  United  States  marshals  h:ul  created  a 
reign  of  terror  by  their  sral>l>intr  and  their  violence. 

71 


"Today,  however,  more  diplomacy  is  used.  'State  Cossacks,' 
supposed  to  maintain  law  and  order,  protect  company  gunmen, 
who  murder,  roast  alive,  rape,  bull-pen  and  deport  strikers  and 
their  families. 

"Of  course,  the  strikers  were  accused  of  violence  and  inter- 
fering with  mail — but  the  railway  workers  did  not  have  a 
contract  with  the  government  to  carry  mail,  therefore  they 
could  not  violate  one.  But  the  public  (?)  believes  what  the 
press  tells  'em,  and  so  were  relieved  when  the  officials  of  the 
A.  R.  U.  were  restrained  by  injunction  from  'doing  what  they 
never  intended  to  do  and  did  not  do,  and  then  jailed  'em  six 
months  for  not  doing  it!" 

"They  were  under  the  jurisdiction  of  the  court  for  18 
months,  which  was  a  pretext  to  prevent  reorganization  of  the 
A.  E.  U.,  and  were  indicted  for  conspiracy,  treason  and  mur- 
der; but  after  9.000  telegrams  were  introduced — 150  of  them 
personally  signed  by  the  General  President — and  read  to  the 
jury,  counseling  the  men  against  violence,  and  attorneys  for 
the  defendants  showed  that  the  President  of  the  A.  R.  U.  quit 
a  $4,000  a  year  job,  as  Secretary  of  the  Locomotive  Firemen, 
to  become  organizer  of  the  A.  R.  U.,  at  a  salary  of  $900  per 
year,  and  when  it  was  also  learned  by  the  prosecution  that  the 
defendants'  counsel  had  the  secret  proceedings  of  the  Railroad 
General  Managers'  Association,  and  that  they  also  'had  a  num- 
ber of  witnesses  who  would  testify  as  to  who  had  committed 
the  crimes  charged  to  the  strikers,'  the  trial  was  suddenly 
ended,  on  the  weak  plea  of  a  sick  juror,  and  so  far  as  the 
records  show  the  juror  is  still  sick,  for  the  case  ended  by 
evasion  of  the  prosecution. 

SAUCE  FOR  GANDERS  AND  SASS  FOR  "GOOSES" 

"Since  then,  persuasion  is  a  crime  and  union  labor  was 
given  notice  that  they  could  not  use  it. 

"Yet  a  lot  of  knockers  condemn  'a  unification  of  all  rail- 
road employees,  for  their  mutual  benefit  and  protection,'  but 
the  railroads'  General  Managers'  Association,  organized  April 
20,  1886,  composing  24  roads  radiating  from  Chicago,  repre- 
senting a  combined  capital  of  over  two  billions — acted  as  a 
unit  in  resisting  increase  in  wages,  as  well  as  to  regulate  them 
thruout  the  country,  hire  strike-breakers,  apportioning  the  ex- 
pense among  the  several  members. 

"The  A.  K.  U.  strike  was  the  most  suggestive  in  the  history 
of  the  world  and  knockers  wouldn't  get  far  if  the  average 
worker  really  knew  any  of  the  details.  When  the  3100  Pull- 
man Wheel-Saloon  makers  went  on  strike,  they  owed  Pullman 

72 


for  rent  alone  $70,000.  Their  two-months'  vacation  cost  them, 
in  wages,  $350,000.  While  the  wage-loss  to  the  100,000  A.  R.  U. 
strikers  was  $1,400,000.  The  deputy  marshal  scabs  and  scab- 
herders,  used  to  protect  trains,  carrying  one  mail-pouch,  cost 
the  General  Managers  $685,308,  while  the  lost  earnings  of  the 
24  roads  was  estimated  at  $5,000,000— 

"Tell  me,  'Dave,' "  ordered  "Rocky,"  "What  is  an  injunc- 
tion?" 

"Judicial  despotism,  according  to  Judge  Lyman  Trumbnll. 
He  ought  to  know — being  on  the  State  Supreme  Bench  of  Illi- 
nois and  16  years  in  the  United  States  Senate — and  still  a  poor 
man !  'It  has  the  force  of  a  law,  yet  is  not  a  law — simply  the 
whim  of  a  Federal  Judge,  wh*o  can  issue  it,  serve  it  upon  his 
intended  victim  who  is  arrested  and  brot  into  the  presence  of 
the  injunction-serving  Judge,  who,  constituting  judge,  court 
and  jury,  sends  his  victim  to  jail  and  the  victim  has  no  right 
of  appeal!' 

"The  precedent  was  established  in  the  A.  R.  U.  strike,  and 
Gov.  Altgeld  rightly  said:  'Any  Federal  Judge  can  now  en- 
join any  person  from  anything  and  then  put  him  in  jail!' 

"But  Judge  Trumbull  makes  it  stronger,  saying : 

"  'Any  Federal  Judge  can  imprison  any  citizen  at  his  will.' " 

"What  the  devil  does  A.  R.  U.  mean  ?"  demanded  Bob. 

"American  Railway  Union.    It  was  organized  by — " 

"  'Dave.' "  cut  in  "Rocky,"  "is  it  true  that  he's  paying  off 
a  $40,000  debt,  incurred  during  the  strike,  for  which  he  is  not 
legally  responsible?" 

"Yes,  it  is,"  rapped  "Dave,"  and  then  addressing  Bob,"Don't 
you  know  the  organizer  of  the  A.  R.  U.  ?" 

"No." 

"Well,  I'll  make  you  acquainted  with  him." 

The  Mooney  car  stopped  at  "Dave's"  command  before  a 
large  house,  on  the  porch  of  which  a  bald-headed  man,  reading, 
glanced  up  when  "Dave"  called,  "Hello,  Comrade!" 

The  man  on  the  porch  moved  spryly  down  the  steps,  with 
extended  hand  and  a  frank  smiling  face,  that  commanded  in- 
stant confidence. 

"Comrade  Debs,  meet  Brother  Blackstone — a  Mooney  Agi- 
tator, traveling  by  car."  .. 

"CHICKEN  AND  CAKE" 

As  the  drizzle  stopped  and  the  sun  popped  out  thru  a  weak 
place  in  the  clouds,  the  Mooney  car,  clipping  along  a  fill, 
passed  a  stalled  Ford. 

"Need  any  help?"  yelled  Bob. 

73 


"Yes,"  came  the  answer  from  several  throats. 

After  cleaning  timer,  spark-plugs,  vibrator-points  and  the 
locating  of  three  "shorts,"  Bob  had  the  old  Flivver — "that 
hadn't  caused  any  trouble  for  two  years" — talking.  As  he 
pocketed  his  charge — $1.50 — the  owner,  realizing  he  could  com- 
plete his  trip  and  bid  "the  boys"  who  were  leaving  for  France, 
good-bye,  appreciatingly  insisted  Frank  and  Bob  eat  lunch 
with  them. 

"We  got  10  roast  chickens  and  15  cakes  and  all  the  things 
between,"  beamed  the  old  fellow,  his  eyes  lovingly  on  the  "talk- 
ing" Ford. 

THE   RUSTY  CARD 

"Any  you  boys  got  a  chauffeurs'  card?"  inquired  Bob  of  a 
group  of  taxi-drivers,  on  arrival  Indianapolis,  Indiana. 

The  embarrassed  silence  was  broken  by  a  pleasing  chap : 

"Crip — that's  the  guy  'cross  the  street,  there — he's  got  a 
card." 

"You're  the  first  son  of  a that's  ever  asked  me  for  a 

card!"  exclaimed  the  cripple,  impulsively  grasping  Bob's 
hand.  "And  in  this  burg  there's  six  International  Unions — 
Printers,  Barbers,  Carpenters,  Miners,  Bricklayers  and  Team- 
sters— that's  all  I  can  think  of  right  now.  In  the  winter,  when 
patrons  want  doors  opened — I  can't  do  that,  owin'  to  my  leg — 
they  let  me  work  in  the  office,  answering  the  'phone,  and  of 
all  the  calls  I've  received  from  Internationals  for  a  taxi,  not 
one  ever  asked  for  a  union  driver !  Is  it  any  wonder  they  say 
Indianapolis  is  the  scabbiest  town  in  the  country !" 

"Thanks  for  the  information,  but  what  I  really  want,"  ex- 
plained Bob,  "is  for  you  to  steer  me  to  the  Labor  Hall,  and 
then  a  room,  where  I  can  park  my  car  in  the  yard." 

EVEN  BEFORE  CHRIST 

Leaving  for  Dayton,  Ohio,  Bob  had  a  credential  endorsing 
the  Mooney  fight — signed  by  the  International  President  of 
the  United  Mine  Workers  of  America,  Frank  J.  Hays — and  a 
sign.  "MOONEY  FRAME  UP  TALKS,"  painted  on  the  car 
by  E.  E.  Davidson,  and  stomachs  filled  at  the  M — 's. 

During  lunch  Mrs.  M —  asked:  "Did  you  visit  Emma 
Goldman  when  in  Jefferson  City?" 

"No,"  began  Frank,  "she's  a  dangerous — 

"Anarchist/'  interrupted  Mrs.  M — .  "I'll  bet  the  warden 
told  you  that,  and  yet  her  philosophy  is  a  new  social  order, 
based  on  liberty,  unrestricted  by  man-made  law  and  all  forms 

74 


of  coercive  government  and  evasive  authority  which  rest  on 
violence  and  are  therefore  wrong  and  harmful,  as  well  as  un- 
necessary— " 

'"How  do  Anarchists  propose  to  run  society  without  a  gov- 
ernment?" Frank  demanded. 

"By  free  agreements,  made  between  various  groups,  to 
carry  on  production  and  consumption,  to  satisfy  humanity's 
many  needs. 

"Voluntary  associations  of  church-men,  farmers,  profes- 
sional men  and  labor  unions,  now  covering  all  fields  of  human 
activity,  under  Anarchy  would  take  on  a  greater  field,  substi- 
tuting themselves  for  the  state  and  the  government,  represent- 
ing a  net-work,  composed  of  federations  of  all  sizes  and  de- 
grees, local  county,  state,  national,  and  international — tem- 
porary and  permanent — for  all  possible  purposes — production 
and  exchange,  communications,  sanitations,  education,  mutual 
protection  and  defense  of  the  territory. 

"And,"  broke  off  Mrs.  M — ,  "that's  Prince  Kropotkin's  defi- 
nition, boiled  down. 

"The  Anarchist  philosophy  isn't  a  new  fad,  for  the  founder 
of  Stoic  Philosophy,  Zeno  from  Crete,  300  years  before  Christ, 
opposed  Plato's  Republic — Utopia — repudiating  the  all-power- 
fulness  of  the  state.  He  proclaimed  the  rule  of  individual 
moral  law,  remarking  that  the  instinct  of  self-preservation 
leads  man  to  self-praise,  but  nature  provided  man  with  another 
instinct — sociability. 

"When  sociable,  free  men  follow  their  natural  instincts, 
there'll  be  no  need  of  law-courts,  or  police,  or  temples  of  public 
worship — no  use  for  money — gifts  taking  the  place  of  ex- 
changes. 

NATURE'S  LAWS 

"Goodwin,  in  Inquiries  Concerning  Political  Justice,  1793, 
formulated  the  political  and  economic  conceptions  of  Anar- 
chism, tho  never  using  the  name,  and  then  backslid.  'L;i\v</ 
he  wrote,  'are  not  a  product  of  our  ancestors'  wisdom,  but  of 
their  passions,  timidities,  jealousies,  and  ambitions.  Their 
remedies  are  worse,  than  the  evils  they  pretend  to  cure.  If 
all  laws  and  courts  were  abolished  and  judging  left  to  sensible 
men,  real  justice  would  gradually  be  evolved.  Society  can  per- 
fectly exist,  without  government.' 

-The  liberty  of  man,  says  Bakunin  in  Dieu  et  TEtnt.  con- 
sists solely  in  this,  that  he' obeys  the  laws  of  nature,  because 
he  has  himself  recognized  them  as  such,  not  because  they  have 
been  forced  upon  him. 

75 


"The  problem  of  freedom  will  be  solved  when  nature's  laws 
are  ascertained  by  scientists  and  knowledge  of  them  univer- 
sally spread  among  the  masses. 

''Every  man  will  obey  nature's  laws,  for  they  are  the  laws 
of  his  o\vn  nature  and  the  need  for  political  organization,  ad- 
ministration and  legislation  will  at  once  disappear. 

"The  privileged  man,  whether  he  be  privileged  politically 
or  economically,  is  a  man  depraved  in  intellect  and  heart.  In 
a  word,  we  object  to  all  legislation,  all  authority,  all  influence, 
privileged,  patent,  official  and  legal,  even  when  it  has  pro- 
ceeded from  universal  suffrage,  convinced  that  it  must  turn 
to  the  profit  of  a  dominating  and  exploiting  minority  against 
the  interests  of  an  enslaved  majority. 

"Leo  Tolstoi  took  the  Anarchist  position,  regarding  state 
and  property  rights,  getting  his  conclusions  from  the  teach- 
ings of  Christ.  In  The  Kingdom  of  God  in  Yourselves  he 
criticizes  the  Church,  the  State  and  Law ;  especially  property 
laws,  describing  the  state  as  dominated  by  the  wicked  and 
supported  by  the  brutal.  Robbers  are  far  less  dangerous — he 
says — than  a  well  organized  government,  and  from  the  teach- 
ings of  Christ  he  deduces  the  rule  of  non-resistance  and  the 
absolute  condemnation  of  all  wars — " 

"I  thot,"  Frank  interrupted,  "Anarchists  believed  in  vio- 
lence." 

"Not  any  more  so  than  the  Republican  Party,  during  the 
American  Civil  War,  or  the  Democratic  Party  during  the 
present  War! 

"Men  and  women,  believing  in  Anarchism — or  Socialism — 
if  arrested  for  crime,  the  reptilian  press,  proclaim  to  the  world 
that  an  Anarchist  or  Socialist  did  so  and  so.  But  of  the  150 
murders  committed  every  year  in  Chicago,  it  is  safe  to  say 
that  145  are  committed  by  democrats  or  republicans — but  no 
party  is  responsible  for  the  individual  acts  of  its  members. 

"Xihilism — meaning  nothing — resorts  to  terrorism  and  as- 
sassination— " 

"Sorry  we  must  go,"  spoke  up  Bob,  "but  I'm  to  speak  to 
the  Munition  Workers,  in  Dayton,  Ohio — tonight." 

"YOU'RE  A  SCAB—" 

Jokingly  said  a  boomer  machinist  of  Lodge  225, 1.  A.  of  M., 
after  10,000  Munition  Workers  had  wired  their  Mooney  reso- 
lution to  President  Wilson — w-hen  he  learned  Bob  was  an  auto 
mechanic,  repairing  akng  the  road,  almost  daily,  and  carry- 
ing a  card  in  the  International  Brotherhood  of  Teamsters 
as  a  chaffeur  instead  of  a  mechanic's  card  in  the  International 
Association  of  Machinists. 

7C 


After  Bob  had  spoken  at  three  union  meetings,  Springfield, 
Ohio,  the  custodian  said:  "Bring  in  your  bedding  and  sleep 
in  the  small  hall ;  it's  to  late  to  pitch  tent — " 

Thanks,"  accepted  Bob,  "that's  a  use  Labor  Halls  can  be 
put  to  of  which  I  hadn't  thot." 

Entering  Columbus,  Frank  and  Bob  decided  they'd  have  a 
real  honest-to-God  lunch  and  were  directed  to  Sauer's  restaur- 
ant, opposite  the  State  Capitol. 

That  night,  Charles  Lake,  President,  Central  Labor  Union, 
Zanesville,  Ohio,  helped  Bob  get  the  floor  at  a  few  local  meet- 
ings and  Mark  Platnick,  a  pneumatic-tire  maker,  told  him  he 
had  organized  a  Co-operative  Tire  Company  and  the  Chamber 
of  Commerce  had  agreed  to  give  so  much  financial  support,  if 
they'd  build  a  factory  in  Zanesville,  but  when  he  insisted  on 
union  workers  they  repudiated  their  agreement. 

Returning  to  car,  Fralnk  was  taking  to  Gary  Norris,  violin- 
maker,  who  had  introduced  himself,  on  seeing  the  sign: 
MOONEY  FRAME-UP  TALKS.  The  Mooney  Agitators 
gladly  accepted  the  invitation  to  camp  on  his  place. 

Violating  the  adage,  "Hasten  slowly,"  Bob,  attempting  to 
pass  another  car,  snapped  an  axle  drive-shaft,  in  a  grass-cov- 
ered ditch,  wrhich  delayed  them  two  days,  making  repairs  and 
took  all  the  spare  "dough"  in  the  family  purse  for  parts  and 
good  eats  with  Farmer  Galligher. 

President  Roy  of  sub-District  4,  U.  M.  W.  of  A.,  advised 
Bob  on  arrival  in  Bridgeport,  to  see  Hilton,  editor  The  Wheel- 
ing Majority. 

Intending  to  speak  to  unions  in  the  surrounding  towns,  Bob 
secured  "camping  accommodations"  with  Mrs.  Strosneider,  on 
Wheeling  Island,  in  the  Ohio  River,  between  Bridgeport  and 
Wheeling.  West  Virginia. 

From  the  first  suspension  bridge  (still  collecting  toll)  built 
in  the  United  States,  connecting  The  Island  with  Wheeling, 
the  Mooney  Agitators  saw  a  "wind  jammer"  labeled :  "Visit 
me,  was  once  an — 

"OCEAN  HELL." 

On  board,  Bob  picked  (on  hunch)  a  young  speeler. 

"The  British  Convict  Ship  Success—''  the  speeler's  perf 
speaking    voice    silenced    all    tongues,    "was    built    in    1790, 
from    Burmese    teak — a    wood    without    equal    for    resisting 
decay— at  Moulmein,  India,  and  is  the  only  survivor  of  Eng- 
land's Fam-ous  Felon  Fleet,  or  Ocectn  Setts— 

77 


"She's  135  feet  long,  with  29-foot  beam,  solid  sides,  30 
inches  thick  at  bilge;  her  keelson  is  solid  teak,  of  tremendous 
thickness,  with  sister  keelsons  a  little  less  massive.  Her  square 
cut  stern,  quarter  galleries  and  bluff  bow,  proclaim  her  anti- 
quity and  that  she  wasn't  built  for  speed. 

"This — the  oldest  ship  afloat — had  an  honored  career,  as 
an  India  merchantman,  protected  by  bristling  brass  guns,  de^ 
livering  spices,  aromatic  teas,  ivories,  jewels  and  other  luxuries 
to  ports  of  the  Seven  Seas,  until  1802,  when  she  was  chartered 
by  the  British  Government  to  transport  the  overflow  of  home 
jails  to  the  penal  colony  of  Australia.  At  that  time  there  were 
145  offenses  for  which  the  penalty  was  death !  And  for  the 
theft  of  a  twopenny  pork  pie,  or  a  square  of  bleached  linen — 
seven  years — the  lightest  sentence  handed  a  transported  vic- 
tim. Truly  the  laws  of  England  then  were  a  black  disgrace  to 
civilization. 

"The  Prison  Ship  Success — as  commodore,  or  principal 
devil-ship  of  the  Felon-fleet — has  been  described  in  detail  by 
Clark  Russell,  in  his  novel  The  Convict  Ship,  and  today  is 
unchanged — nothing  omitted  but  her  human  freight — 

"Dr.  White,  Colonial  Surgeon  on  the  maiden-ship  of  the 
Success  (1802)  reported:  'Of  939  males  sent  out  by  the  last 
ships  Success,  Scarborough  and  Neptune,  251  died  on  board 
and  50  have  died  since  landing.  The  number  of  sick  this  day 
is  450  and  many  reckoned  not  sick,  have  barely  strength  to  at- 
tend themselves.' 

"In  this  same  report,"  the  speeler  continued,  wDr.  White 
said :  'Most  of  the  convicts  made  the  full  voyage — often  lasting 
nine  months — heavily  ironed.  Many  on  arrival  were  found 
dead  in  irons — among  the  living — and  others  were  lying  half, 
others  quite  naked,  without  bed  or  bedding,  unable  to  turn  or 
help  themselves.  The  smell  was  so  offensive,  one  could  hardly 
stand  it' — remember  dear  folks,"  the  speeler  broke  off,  "the 
cells  of  our  prisons  today  are  not  equipt  with  flushing  toilets 
— 'Some  of  these  unhappy  people  died  before  they  could  be 
taken  ashore.  Their  dead  bodies,  thrown  into  the  harbor,  were 
cast  by  the  waves,  naked  and  mangled,  upon  the  rocky  shore/ 

"In  1851  the  Success  was  taken  off  the  hideous  trade  and 
made  a  receiving  prison  in  Hobson's  Bay,  Australia,  where 
in  1857,  disclosures  of  brutal  treatment  to  prisoners,  almost 
caused  a  revolt  against  the  British  Government. 

"A  Select  Committee  of  Australian  Members  of  Parliament 
inquired  into  the  convict-ships'  conditions  and  Mr.  Blair  of 
the  committee,  moved  that  humanity  and  justice  demand  that 
the  hulks  be  abolished  forever — and  they  were. 

78 


"In  1885  this  old  ship  was  scuttled  and  sunk  in  the  pic- 
turesque waters  of  Fort  Jackson,  Sydney  Harbor,  remaining 
there  for  five  years.  At  great  expense  was  salvaged  and  ex- 
hibited in  the  Australasian  Colonies  and  twice  circumnavigated 
Great  Britain  and  Ireland,  entertaining  15  million  visitors,  in- 
cluding the  then  King  Edward  of  England,  others  of  the 
Royal  family  and  the  German  Emperor. 

"In  1912,  Captain  D.  H.  Smith,  the  owner,  hoisted  sail,  took 
her  out  of  Glasson  Dtock,  near  the  port  of  Liverpool,  same  day 
the  ill-fated  Titanic  left  Southampton.  And  after  96  days 
battling  Spring  hurricanes  of  the  Atlantic,  her  staunch  old 
hull,  defying  the  mountainous  sea,  her  gallant  crew  of  adven- 
turous souls  worn  out  and  half-starved,  made  Boston  Harbor 
and  here  we  are  in  the  Ohio  River,  Wheeling,  West.  Va. — " 
smiled  the  speeler  pleasantly,  breaking  the  gripping  situation 
he  had  created. 

CHRISTIAN  CIVILIZATION— (?) 

"All  convicts,"  the  speeler  explained,  standing  among  the 
torture  instruments,  "were  branded  with  a  red-hot  broad-arrow 
branding -iron  on  the  palms — everything  connected  with  Eng- 
lish prisons  are  marked  with  a  broad-arrow — 

"These  are  leg-irons,  weighing  as  much  as  56  pounds — 
White's  Convict  Life  in  New  South  Wales,  compiled  from 
Government  records,  says:  'Leg-irons  were  not  removed  when 
they  went  to  the  hospital  and  not  always,  when  they  went  to 
their  graves' — 

"Here's  an  Iron  Straight  Jacket,  invented  by  the  fiendish 
Captain.  John  Price,  who  was  killed  by  Success  convicts — 

"The  convicts'  wrists  and  ankles  were  chained  to  this  Flog- 
ging Frame,  then  flogged  with  this  Cat-o^nine  tatts,  which  is 
made  of  raw-hide,  bound  with  brass  wire  and  tipped  with  pel- 
lets of  lead.  An  experienced  flogger  has  killed  many  a  con- 
vict— with  24  lashes — 12  from  each  hand.  Then  in  this  Com- 
pulsory Bath,  the  flogged  convicts  had  their  bruised  backs 
bathed  in  salt  water— 'coffin  bath'  the  prisoners  named  it, 
after  a  number  had  been  drowned — 

"This  wheel  was  used  to  raise  and  lower  an  'elevator'  or 
cage,  over  the  fore-hatchway,  in  which  heavily  ironed  convict, 
being  unable  to  climb  ladders,  were  brought  from  lower  decks 
for  their  one  hours'  fresh  air  and  exercise  out  of  the  '24. 

"This  is  called  the  middle  deck  and  three  convicts  occupied 
each  cell,  except  when  large  numbers  carried,  then  six  men  to 
a  cell—'' 

79 


"Six  men  in  that  pill-box?"  questioned  a  rotund  individual. 
"I  don't  believe  it — " 

"Records  on  board  prove  it,"  vaunted  the  speeler. 

"You'll  think  that  pill-box  's  some  size,  after  you  see  the 
30-inch,  tapering  torture-chambers  in  the  hull,  where  the  con- 
victs' arm  was  put  thru  a  ring  and  then  handcuffed  to  his 
other  wrist  so's  he  couldn't  stand  up  or  sit  down  and  these 
holes  are  fitted  with  doors  as  tight  as  valves,  that  swish  each 
time  they're  closed! 

"These  wax-figures,  represent  James  and  George  Lovelace" 
— the  speeler's  voice  took  on  a  pathetic  caressing  tone — "two 
of  the  Six  Men  of  Dorset — the  first  labor  martyrs  of  the  19th 
century.  The  other  four  being  James  Hammett,  Thomas  Stan- 
field,  James  Brine  and  a  fluent  speaker,  named  Clarke. 

"These  men  were  farm  laborers,  receiving  $1.71  a  week  and 
had  to  exist  on  barley  bannocks  and  turnips,  on  Sunday  a  slice 
of  fat  bacon  was  added. 

"The  Six  Men  of  Dorset  became  members  of  the  Grand 
National  Consolidated  Trades  Union,  formed  1834,  to  embrace 
members,  not  of  one,  but  several  trades.  This  form  of  combina- 
tion, spread  alarm  among  employers  as  in  a  few  months,  it 
had  half  a  million  members.  Its  active  existence  was  shortened 
by  the  conviction  of  these  six  Dorchester  farm  laborers,  who 
were  the  committee  that  tried  to  get  a  wage  increase  of  24  1-3 
cents  a  week,  but  the  farmers  denounced  them  and  reduced 
their  wages  to  $1.46  a  week,  telling  the  committee,  that  if  any 
more  complaints  were  made,  they  would  be  arrested  for  con- 
spiracy !  A  proclamation  was  issued,  threatening  seven  years' 
transportation  for  punishment  to  those  who  joined. 

"The  Six  Men  of  Dwset  called  a  meeting,  to  consider  the 
situation.  They  were  arrested  and  July,  1834,  convicted  of  con- 
spiracy and  sentenced  to  'seven  years  transportation  across  the 
high  seas,  to  Her  Majesty's  penal  settlement,  Australia/  These 
martyrs  were  carried  out  in  this  ship  and  after  serving  three 
years  in  the  chain  gangs,  the  British  Government  yielded  to 
the  agitation  thruout  England,  in  their  favor  and  pardoned 
them,  but.  says  Rogers  in  Six  Centuries  of  Work  and  Wages, 
page  10: 

"The  Sydney  government  concealed  their  pardon  from 
them.  This  was  considerately  done  for  vested  interests,  to 
whom  they  had  been  sold  at  $5  a  head." 

On  deck,  after  the  crowd  had  gone  ashore,  Bob  addressed 
the  speeler: 

"You're  an  Agitator,"  he  hesitated — "it's  all  right,"  ex- 
plained Bob,  "I'm  speaking  for  the  Mooney  Defense." 

80 


"Yes,  you're  right,"  he  admitted  shaking  hands.  "My  name's 
Grober,  from  Covington.  Kentucky.  I'm  keeping  in  practice 
during  these  'dark  ages.' 

"We've  got  to  be  careful,  for  many  consider  this,"  indicating 
the  Success — "pro-German." 

"THE  "CONTRAST 

In  Wheeling,  on  a  Sunday  morning,  at  the  club  rooms 
where  the  unions  of  Theatrical  Stage  Employees  and  Movie 
Operators  met,  Bob  became  acquainted  with  John  W.  Slayton, 
of  Pittsburg,  Pennsylvania,  author  and  promoter  of  "The 
Contrast" — a  labor  movie,  who  as  president  of  The  Contrast 
Photo-play  Company,  was  interesting  local  unions: 


John    W.    Slnyton,    Author   "The   Contract1' 

"Fifty  million  people  see  the  movies  in  20,000  theaters  in 
the  UWed  States  every  week."  declared  Slatton.  "Many  of 
these  are  unonists  or  their  friends,  who  seldom  see  any  honest 
reference  to  organized  labor — yet: 

"All  your  temples,  ships  and  wares 
Your  railways,  commerce  and  your  art — 
I  (labor)  build  and  carry  on. 

81 


"And  that  isn't  all,  the  worst  is  coming — and  yet  to  come, 
the  op<  n-xhojfjH'i's  are  putting  out  propaganda  pictures  against 
trade  unionism — 

"Every  unionist  who  reads  a  labor  paper  knows  that  thru 
labor  papers  only  can  he  get  the  truth.  Bosses  don't  publish 
labor  papers!  So  neither  will  the  great  film  companies  make 
pro-labor  pictures.  Therefore,  if 'labor  must  produce  labor 
papers,  for  labor's  benefit,  it  follows  that  labor  must  produce 
labor  pictures — and  support  them. 

"The  Contrast  is  owned  by  700  individual  unionists,  310 
local  unions,  ten  Central  Bodies  and  District  Councils  and 
three  state  Federations  of  Labor — Ohio,  West  Virginia  and 
Pennsylvania. 

"Our  union  stock-holders  will  compel  local  theaters  to  bill 
our  pictures — " 

"Like  hell  they  will,"  cut  in  a  boomer  movie  operator.  "I 
know  the  ropes  from  Maine  to  Mexico  and  believe  me,  com- 
pelling theaters  to  run  a  labor  picture  is  like  making  Wilson 
keep  us  out  of  war.  Where  labor  is  organized  and  class-con-' 
scious,  it  can  be  done.  But  how  many  of  those  towns  are  there 
in  the  United  States?  Then  again,  these  organized  towns  have 
a  labor  temple  with  an  audience  where  a  labor  picture  could  be 
put  on  and  some  are  leased  to  movie  exhibitors,  whose  lease 
contains  a  clause  relative  to  running  labor  pictures. 

"You  can  make  it  go,  but  you'll  have  to  fight  like  hell  and 
depend  upon  labor  unions,  first  last  and  all  the  time — 

"And  what  about  the  Censors?"  the  Boomer  demanded. 
"Certainly  you  know  that  Censors  are  political  tit-suckers — 
who  must  protect  their  jobs  and  they'll  stop  anything  their 
masters  tell  'em  to — 

"Did  you  ever  hear  of  the  Little  Girl  Next  Door —  a  pic- 
tiiri/ation  of  testimony,  which  purported  to  show  how  vice  had 
I  >een  driven  out  of  Chicago"?  Well,  the  Chicago  Board  of  Cen- 
sors permitted  the  showing  of  this  picture,  in  spite  of  the 
protest  of  newspapers,  clergy  and  the  public  in  general.  Why? 
Because  a  high  State  Official,  was  financially  interested  in  the 
film.  t 

"The  New  York  police  stopped  this  indecent  display  damn 
(|uick,  as  well  as  many  other  cities,  thru  the  operation  of  police 
power.  Which  in  all  cases  can  prevent  such  showings,  censors 
or  no  censors. 

"Censors  barred  Mary  Pickford  in  The  Little  American, 
before  the  United  States  entered  the  war,  fearing  its  flaming 
patriotism  might  offend  certain  hyphenated  voters.  The  courts 
over-ruled  the  Censors,  demonstrating  that  even  Censors  err 
—in  the  eyes  of  the  law. 

82 


''But  for  inconsistency,  the  Pennsylvania  Censor  Board 
takes  the  cake,  when  they  declare  a  film  kiss  must  not  be 
longer  than  eight  feet.  That  means,  no  son  can  kiss  his  mother, 
no  wife  can  kiss  her  husband,  for  more  than  five  seconds — 
in  Pennsylvania.  Why?  God  only  knows!  Pennsylvania  Cen- 
sors declare  it  immoral,  to  intimate  the  coming  of  motherhood, 
by  making  of  bab}^  clothes,  or  showing  a  cradle,  or  even  a 
stork. 

"Pennsylvania  and  Ohio  admitted  Tlie  Birth  of  a  Nation  but 
Kansas — where  graft  has  been  exposed  among  the  Censor 
Board  members  (?)  rejected  it.  This  same  Kansas  board,  or- 
dered an  added  title  to  a  picture — story  by  Rupert  Hughes — 
saying  that  the  poor  girl  had  secretly  married  the  villain.  Final 
picture  then  showed  her  father  disowning  her;  her  poor  but 
honest  lover  heartbroken;  her  life  ruined — and  these  dis- 
asters came — because  she  married! 

"Pennsylvania1  Censors  cut  out  the  Biblical  quotations  in 
The  Eternal  Magdalen,  klle  that  is  without  sin  among  you, 
let  him  cast  the  first  stone,'  and  'Neither  do  I  condemn  thee: 
go,  and  sin  no  more.'  These  words  of  Christ  were  immoral,  the 
censors  said,  yet  they're  quoted  all  over  Christendom. 

"The  one  thing  all  censors  agree  on,  is  that  labor  pictures 
must  be  barred— 

"All  ready  for  you  speakers,"  said  the  guard  and  then  to 
the  Boomer,  he  added.  "Why  aren't  you  in  here?" 

"I  was  keeping  these  fellows  company — while  you  guvs 
made  'em  wait — " 

GOVERNOR  COX  (Ohio)— OX  THE  JOB 

"Say,  Blackstone."  President  Roy  demanded,  "are  you  an 
I.  W.  \V.?  The  Martin*  /•>/•/•//  Tm&8  said  ><>.  I  phoned  the 
local  correspondent,  he  said  the  chief  of  police  told  him. 
phoned  the  Chief,  he  said  the  Mayor  told  him  and  when  I 
phoned  the  Mayor,  he  said  Governor  Cox  had  seen  your  red 
flivver  with  sign,  MOONEY  FRAME-UP  TALKS,  while  it 
was  parked  in  the  shadow  of  the  Capitol,  at  Columbus  and 
phoned  'that  you  probably  was  an  I.  W.  W.  Agitator,  to  arrest 
you  if  you  started  anything.' 

"Of  course  I  told  'em  you  had  credentials  from  Interna- 
tional President  Hays  and  I  know  Hays  wouldn't  a'  given 
that,  if  you  wasn't  all  right." 

-Thanks,'*  graciously  said  Bob,  "its  takes  guts  to  carry  an 
I  W  W.  card,  the  way  they're  mobbing  them  now,  but  say 
Roy,"  as  a  frightful  (hot  struck  Bob,  "What  if  a  gang  of 

83 


these  100-percenters,  misinformed  by  this  lying  newspaper, 
try  to  mob  me?" 

"Give  her  the  gas — and  run  'em  down — kill  the  dirty 
cowards,"  was  the  bitter  and  thotless  interruption  from  a 
convalescing  coal  miner,  who  had  been  injured  by  falling  slate, 
caused  by  illegal  timbering. 

Frank  and  Bob  spent  their  last  50  cents  for  supper.  Then 
drove  to  a  nearby  mine  to  learn  what  night  miners  met.  Re- 


Robert  Blaokatone  and  "Wrecked"  Car 

turning  at  dusk  to  speak  to  Wheeling  unions,  the  motor  died 
with  a  spit  and  a  pop — out  of  gas — on  the  brow  of  a  little  hill 
as  three  men,  carrying  pump  gimx,  stepped  out  of  a  thicket 
.  The  shrill  whistle  of  one.  caused  a  crashing  noise  in 
the  depths  of  the  brush  and — froze  Bob's  blood  ! — 


End  of  Part  One.  Part  Two  'On  The  Bum  in  a  High- 
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84 


THE  LIBRARY 
UNIVERSITY  OF  CALIFORNIA 

Santa  Barbara 


V.  I       THIS  BOOK  IS  DUE  ON  THE  LAST  DATE 
STAMPED  BELOW. 


Series  9482 


